Editing Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) (section)

===Year-end tradition===
The [[Trade unions in Germany|German workers' movement]] began the tradition of performing the Ninth Symphony on New Year's Eve in 1918. Performances started at 11 p.m. so that the symphony's finale would be played at the beginning of the new year. This tradition continued during the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi period]] and was also observed by [[East Germany]] after the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hr-online.de/servlet/de.hr.cms.servlet.File/11-006.pdf?enc=d3M9aHJteXNxbCZibG9iSWQ9MTE5NDAzNDkmaWQ9NDA3NDE2MTkmZm9yY2VEb3dubG9hZD0x|url-status=dead|title=Beethovens 9. Sinfonie – Musik für alle Zwecke – Die Neunte und Europa: 'Die Marseillaise der Menschheit'|language=de|author=Niels Kaiser|publisher=hr2|date=26 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108120547/http://www.hr-online.de/servlet/de.hr.cms.servlet.File/11-006.pdf?enc=d3M9aHJteXNxbCZibG9iSWQ9MTE5NDAzNDkmaWQ9NDA3NDE2MTkmZm9yY2VEb3dubG9hZD0x|archive-date=8 January 2018}}</ref>

The Ninth Symphony is traditionally performed throughout Japan at [[Ōmisoka|the end of the year]]. In December 2009, for example, there were 55 performances of the symphony by various major orchestras and choirs in Japan.<ref name="Brasor">Brasor, Philip, "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20101224r1.html Japan makes Beethoven's Ninth No. 1 for the holidays]", ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 24 December 2010, p. 20, retrieved on 24 December 2010; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609215442/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20101224r1.html |date=9 June 2011 }}<br />Uranaka, Taiga, "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn19991201a5.html Beethoven concert to fete students' wartime sendoff]", ''The Japan Times'', 1 December 1999, retrieved on 24 December 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609215516/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn19991201a5.html |date=9 June 2011 }}</ref> It was introduced to [[Japan during World War I]] by German prisoners held at the [[Bandō prisoner-of-war camp]].<ref name="ST">{{cite news |title=How World War I made Beethoven's Ninth a Japanese New Year's tradition |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/classical-music/how-world-war-i-made-beethovens-ninth-a-japanese-new-year-tradition/ |access-date=21 July 2020 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=30 December 2015}}</ref> Japanese orchestras, notably the [[NHK Symphony Orchestra]], began performing the symphony in 1925 and during World War II; the [[Empire of Japan|Imperial government]] promoted performances of the symphony, including on New Year's Eve. In an effort to capitalize on its popularity, orchestras and choruses undergoing economic hard times during Japan's reconstruction performed the piece at year's end. In the 1960s, these year-end performances of the symphony became more widespread, and included the participation of local choirs and orchestras, firmly establishing a tradition that continues today. Some of these performances feature massed choirs of up to 10,000 singers.<ref>{{cite news |title=10,000 people sing Japan's Christmas song |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-42436120/beethoven-s-ninth-10000-singers-for-japan-s-christmas-song |access-date=21 July 2020 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref name="ST" />

[[WQXR-FM]], a classical [[radio station]] serving the [[New York metropolitan area]], ends every year with a [[wiktionary:countdown|countdown]] of the pieces of classical music most requested in a survey held every December; though any piece could win the place of honor and thus welcome the New Year, i.e. play through midnight on January 1, Beethoven's Choral has won in every year on record.<ref>https://www.wqxr.org/story/2021-classical-countdown/ N. B. Links to previous years' countdowns can be found at the link in the reference.</ref>