Beethoven's Symphonies

There have been a few things leading me to think about Beethoven's symphonies over the last few weeks. There was a CBC radio show on a weekend morning a few weeks ago in which there was a Beethoven expert being interviewed. He discussed the symphonies and it is interesting to remember that, although they are standard fare these days, they were very innovative when they were written - especially the 9th with the choral component in the last movement. I also forget how much they were rearranged in the years after they were first written - they seem liked fixed works to me now. However, the commentator did mention how different productions can really change the piece. I am not so into classical music that I would buy different productions of the same piece and appreciate the difference. So I loaded up my phone with the nine symphonies and began listening to them again. I have to say that I have purchased in total about nine Beethoven symphonies in different archaic formats in my life, but have never legitimately owned all nine at the same time. The ones I know the best are 1, 5, 6 (the pastoral, I had to look up the number) and 9 since I had those in my limited vinyl collection as a teenager. I am listening to the first as I write this, and they are playing on my morning alarm. For various reasons, getting up is hard these days, so I get a long dose as I try to wake up. Coincidentally, as I was getting interested in Beethoven again, I started watching the anime, Psycho Pass, which I can recommend. It is a sci-fi crime drama with social commentary and is quite thoughtfully done. The villains quote philosophers... and listen to Beethoven in the background. I thought it was the pastoral, but the forum posts say it the the 9th. I guess I don't know my Beethoven as well as I thought. Anyway, as good as Beethoven is... he is no Bach. My father agrees.