"A Song of Joy" ("Himno de la alegría") is the title of a popular

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song by the Spanish singer and actor

Miguel Ríos Miguel Ríos Campaña (born 7 June 1944) is a Spanish singer, composer, actor. He is one of the pioneers of rock and roll in Spain. Biography Ríos was born in La Cartuja, a neighborhood of Granada. The youngest of seven children, he went to wo ...

. It is set to the tune the Ninth Symphony by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, as arranged by

Waldo de los Ríos Osvaldo Nicolás Ferraro Gutiérrez (7 September 1934 – 28 March 1977) better known as Waldo de los Ríos was an Argentine composer, conductor and arranger. De los Ríos was born in Buenos Aires into a musical family; his father was a musicia ...

, who specialized in arranging classical music to contemporary rhythms.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications) The same melody is used in the well-known Christian hymn, "

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee "The Hymn of Joy" (often called "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" after the first line) is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 with the intention of musically setting it to the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beeth ...

." The

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

was enormously popular in many countries in 1970 (see

1970 in music List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1970. __TOC__ Specific locations * 1970 in British music * 1970 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1970 in country music * 1970 in heavy metal music *1970 in jazz Events *Janua ...

), reaching number 1 on music charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart in the United States. On the U.S. pop chart, the song peaked at number 14 and was the only

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit for Ríos. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 16 on the British pop chart. In Germany, the song is the most successful pop hymn ever. The single sold over four million copies worldwide.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

European 7" single release info
Discogs 1969 songs 1970 singles Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Switzerland CONMEBOL music {{1970s-rock-song-stub

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

See also

References

External links