Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for iPad presents four of Deutsche Grammophon’s legendary recordings of this iconic work, with the amazing ability to switch instantly between each performance at any point in the piece. As you listen, you can watch the synchronized musical score, be guided by expert commentary, follow Beethoven’s 1825 manuscript or immerse yourself in the hypnotic graphical BeatMap of the orchestra, precisely highlighting every note. The app also includes a treasure-trove of specially filmed video interviews with musicians, writers and great conductors discussing Beethoven and his masterwork.

Note that this free version of the app includes two minutes from the second movement of the symphony, with all features enabled. The full experience can then be instantly unlocked through In-App Purchase. No further download is required.

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is created by Touch Press, the people behind The Orchestra app, which Apple has featured in TV commercials and poster ads.

The app includes:

- Four legendary performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony including Ferenc Fricsay’s first stereo recording of this work from 1958 with the Berliner Philharmoniker; Herbert von Karajan’s famous 1962 recording with the same orchestra; the widely loved and charismatic maestro Leonard Bernstein’s video recording from 1979 with the Wiener Philharmoniker; and the ground-breaking 1992 recording on period instruments conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.

- Switch between these recordings anywhere on-the-fly without missing a beat.

- Typeset score, simplified score and the hypnotic BeatMap precisely synchronised to all performances.

- Specially commissioned synchronised commentary, book and in-depth musical analysis by David Owen Norris.

- Over 90 minutes of specially filmed video insights from experts including John Eliot Gardiner, Gustavo Dudamel and several musicians from the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Completing the in-app purchase in the iPad version will automatically unlock the full features of the iPhone edition, which is available on iTunes as a separate app. Purchases sync via iCloud. Please note that this app requires iOS6 or later and so is compatible with the iPad 2 and later iPad models including iPad mini.