 "IT
IS THE TRADITION that the Organization marks United Nations Day with a
concert including the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Today
we shall, for the first time in this hall, listen to the symphony in its
entirety.
It is difficult to say anything
knowing that the words spoken will be followed by this enormous confession
of faith in the victorious human spirit and in human brotherhood, a confession
valid for all times and with a depth and wealth of expression never surpassed.
However, this concert is in celebration of United Nations Day and it has
been felt that a few words may remind us of the purpose for which we have
assembled.
When the Ninth Symphony opens
we enter a drama full of harsh conflict and dark threats. But the composer
leads us on, and in the beginning of the last movement we hear again the
various themes repeated, now as a bridge toward a final synthesis. A moment
of silence and a new theme is introduced, the theme of reconciliation and
joy in reconciliation. A human voice is raised in rejection of all that
has preceded and we enter the dreamt kingdom of peace. New voices join
the first and mix in a jubilant assertion of life and all that it gives
us when we meet it, joined in faith and human solidarity.
On this road from conflict and
emotion to reconciliation in this final hymn of praise, Beethoven has given
us a confession and a credo which we, who work within and for this Organization,
may well make our own. We take part in the continuous fight between conflicting
interests and ideologies which so far has marked the history of mankind,
but we may never lose our faith that the first movements one day will be
followed by the fourth movement. In that faith we strive to bring order
and purity into chaos and anarchy. Inspired by that faith we try to impose
the laws of the human mind and of the integrity of the human will on the
dramatic evolution in which we are all engaged and in which we all carry
our responsibility.
The road of Beethoven in his Ninth
Symphony is also the road followed by the authors of the Preamble of the
Charter. It begins with the recognition of the threat under which we all
live, speaking as it does of the need to save succeeding generations from
the scourge of war which has brought untold sorrow to mankind. It moves
on to a reaffirmation of faith in the dignity and worth of the human person.
And it ends with the promise to practice tolerance and live together in
peace with one another as good neighbors and to unite our strength to maintain
peace.... We are indeed still in the first movements. But no matter how
deep the shadows may be, how sharp the conflicts, how tense the mistrust
reflected in what is said and done in our world of today as reflected in
this hall and in this house, we are not permitted to forget that we have
too much in common, too great a sharing of interests and too much that
we might lose together, for ourselves and for succeeding generations, ever
to weaken in our efforts to surmount the difficulties and not to turn the
simple human values, which are our common heritage, into the firm foundation
on which we may unite our strength and live together in peace.
May this be enough as a reminder
of the significance of this day. And may now the symphony develop its themes,
uniting us in its recognition of fear and its confession of faith.
In ending, may I express the gratitude
of the Organization, and of all of us, to Mr. Ormandy and to the Philadelphia
Orchestra for coming to us today and for helping us to celebrate this fifteenth
United Nations Day." |
