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Prof. Dr. Dr. Alfons Deeken SJ
Sophia University Tokyo
Tokyo, April 2009   
Among the numerous books I have read about Beethoven I consider Erika Schuchardt's book on Beethoven as the most insightful study...
It is my hope that Erika Schuchardt's new book will help many people in Japan to learn from Beethoven how to confront and how to master their life crisis
Professor Dr. Erika Schuchardt's new book "This kiss for the whole world" - Subtitle: "Beethoven's creative leap out of crisis" - is a magnificent work. The book title is taken from Beethoven s "Ode to joy" in his ninth symphony. Erika Schuchardt is a bestselling German author who has achieved worldwide fame through her pioneering research on crisis management. Before writing on Beethoven she has researched six thousand biographies of people who had faced a crisis and who had grown through their crisis experience passing through eight spiral phases: 1. uncertainty, 2. certainty, 3. aggression, 4. bargaining, 5. depression, 6. acceptance, 7. activity, and 8. solidarity.
Erika Schuchardt has been working as the German vice president of UNESCO and as a member of the German parliament and has thus exerted a decisive impact on improving education in Germany.
As a ten year old boy in Germany I heard for the first time Beethoven's ninth symphony. On that evening I wrote ten pages in my diary on the aesthetic, emotional and philosophical impact of Beethoven's symphony on my young mind and heart. During my thirty years as adviser to the Symphony Orchestra of Sophia University in Tokyo I had the opportunity to deepen my study and experience of Beethoven. Among the numerous books I have read about Beethoven I consider Erika Schuchardt's book on Beethoven as the most insightful study. .
Erika Schuchardt presents Beethoven as a man who through his painful crisis mobilized the enormous creative powers that produced his masterful music. At the age of 28 Beethoven could not hear any more what was most important in his life and music. From his death wish expressed in the Heiligenstaedter Testament written at the age of 28 Beethoven evolved to a man who at age 56 could express the shout of joy in his ninth symphony: Seid umschlungen Millionen, diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt (be embraced, you millions, this kiss for the whole world). .
Erika Schuchardt does not want to instrumentalize Beethoven as a model for overcoming a crisis. In the book she lets Beethoven speak himself through his letters and his music. Erika Schuchardt hints at the fact that numerous people around the world are at present confronted with a life crisis and could perhaps receive some inspiration from the way Beethoven confronted his crises and grew through it. .
Erika Schuchardt has a charismatic gift as an accompanying life companion (German: Lebensbegleiter) who has accompanied and guided numerous persons through crisis to growth and to a more fulfilled and happier life. I am confident that through her book she will be able to help many Japanese readers to grow through their crisis situation to a healthier and better life. .
Fifty years ago I arrived from Germany in Japan. During those fifty years I have again and again listened to Beethoven's ninth symphony during the month of December. Through his "Ode to Joy" Beethoven has given joy and inspiration to numerous people in Japan. At present, I feel many Japanese and the country as a whole are facing the greatest crisis of the past fifty years. It is my hope that Erika Schuchardt's new book on Beethoven will help many people in Japan to learn from Beethoven how to confront and how to master their life crisis and to enjoy again the "Freude" (joy) that Beethoven wants the people to experience who listen to his symphony.
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