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Freedom, if not outright revolution, was the watchword of German dramatist, poet and philosopher, Friedrich Schiller. Schiller notably formed the elite pair of German classical writers,

along with his contemporary, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was Goethe who described chess as “the touchstone of the intellect.” There is a link to a third Germanic genius, in that the

opening lines of  Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony ( _Freude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium. _..) are  based on  Schiller’s Ode to Joy ( _Freude _in German). It is, however, not widely

known that Schiller originally wrote the poem as an ode to Freedom, _Freiheit _in German, but that the dangerous word freedom was suppressed by the censors in the revolutionary days when it

was written. Freude, likewise with two syllables, begins with F and was deemed more suitable. On examining the full text of the ode, it becomes glaringly obvious that the word Freedom works

far better than the less energetic Joy. My translation follows: _AN DIE FREUDE / ODE TO JOY_ _Freude, schöner Götterfunken, ​​​ Tochter aus Elysium, ​​​​​ Wir betreten feuertrunken, ​​​​

Himmlische, den Heiligtum. ​​​​ Deine Zauber binden wieder, ​​​​ Was die Mode streng geteilt, ​​​​ Alle Menschen werden Brüder,​​​ Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt._ Joy, beautiful divine spark,

daughter of Elysium, Oh heavenly one, we enter, intoxicated with fire, your holy realm. Your magic makes whole, what custom had sternly rent asunder, all men become brothers, where your

gentle wing protects us. ​​ _Seid umschlungen Millionen! ​​​ Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt! ​​​​ Brüder – überm Sternenzelt ​​​ muss ein lieber Vater wohnen._ Embrace ye millions! Offer this

kiss to the entire world! Brothers, above the canopy of the stars, a dear Father must reside. Ecstasy? Yes! Freedom? Certainly! Joy? Absolutely not. It is no coincidence that Beethoven not

only converted Schiller’s Ode into music, but also wrote the overture and incidental music to _Egmont_, Goethe’s own youthful paean to freedom, along with his hymn to liberty, his only

opera, _Fidelio. _It is lamentable that supine conductors still genuflect to custom (ironically, as in the very words of the Ode itself). They should, of course, be joyously substituting 

_Freude _with _Freiheit_, as did Leonard Bernstein when conducting Beethoven’s ninth on the metaphorically ruined ramparts of the German capital’s hated Communist inspired circumvallation

(better known as the Berlin Wall). Where Schiller failed, Mozart and his librettist , Lorenzo Da Ponte, brilliantly succeeded. Encouraged by Mark Ronan’s favourable review in TheArticle. I

went to Glyndebourne’s production of Don Giovanni last month. During the course of the opera, the Don himself belts out_ Viva la Liberta_, (“long live liberty”), quite evading the stifling

censorship which had so oppressed Schiller in those revolutionary times. The American Revolution against the British crown was concluded in 1776, the Bastille was stormed in 1789, heralding

in the French Revolution, Schiller penned his Ode in 1785, while Mozart’s masterpiece received its premiere in Prague in 1787. Perhaps the censors took Liberta from the mouth of Don

Giovanni, a notorious womaniser, to be equated with libertinism, rather than political liberty. Don Giovanni celebrated fifty years since the foundation of Glyndebourne. Two days after

attending the anniversary, I went on to another fiftieth year celebration, that of Richard O’Brien’s pastiche, _THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. _It struck me at once that there was a parallel between

the libertine Don Giovanni and the promiscuous, Mary Shelley inspired, anti-hero Frank’nfurter, an alien from Trans-sexual Transylvania, prepared at any moment to seduce women, men and even

little furry creatures from Alpha Centauri (with apologies to Douglas Adams’ _HITCHHIKERS  GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.) _ Don Giovanni and Frank’nfurter are libertine creatures of the imagination,

but there is a genuine flesh and blood incarnation in the same mould. That is influencer extraordinaire, Andrew Tate, who has recently achieved notoriety, not least because of his celebrity

status amongst massive, admiring segments of modern male youth fandom. Tate is under house arrest in Bucharest, charged with human trafficking. This week he was also served with legal

documents from four women in the UK, alleging rape and sexual assault. A much-viewed  interview with Lucy Williamson, the BBC’s Bucharest correspondent, focused on Tate’s alleged philosophy

of misogynistic rape culture, elevated to the level of an ultra-masculine, ultra-luxurious ideology. Tate identifies neither as a libertine, nor as a classical liberal, but as an

libertarian. Nevertheless, his idea of liberty seems to have rather more in common with those of Don Giovanni and Frank’ furter than with that of Schiller.  As an indication of his

sensational outreach, Tate’s hashtag has been viewed over 13 billion times on social media. Apparently 45% of British males in the age group 16-24 have expressed a positive view of him.

Unsurprisingly, only 1 percent of British females share this view. And the connection with chess? Tate was pressed by his father Emory Tate into competing in chess tournaments at an early

age. Andrew is not widely noted as a player, though some infatuated  epigoni have described him longingly, if wrongly, a grandmaster. However, his father Emory Tate was in fact a genuinely

brilliant exponent of the game, recognised by FIDÉ, the World Chess Federation, as an International Master (one level below International Grandmaster). Emory Tate was also the victor of some

deeply impressive attacking masterpieces. Here are some samples of play by the paterfamilias and progenitor of our contemporary imitator of Don Giovanni and the egregiously promiscuous

Frank’nfurter: Emory Tate vs. Leonid Yudasin Nick de Firmian vs. Emory Tate Emory Tate vs. Artur Chibukhchain _Raymond Keene’s latest book, “Fifty Shades of Ray: Chess in the year of the

Coronavirus”, containing some of his best pieces from TheArticle, is now available from _ _ Blackwell’s _ _._ A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to

covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout these hard economic times. So

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