Birthday Without Candles

Concerts at the United Nations often include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which ends with the choral affirmation of Schiller's Ode to Joy: "All mankind shall be brothers . . ." The U.N. was founded 25 years ago on that dream. Disillusionment over its failure to achieve this goal has become a permanent feeling, like a chronic toothache.

Sometimes the disenchantment appears by indirection. In the U.N. anniversary week, that reality was made evident by one of the oldest diplomatic devices--a protocol snub. On the final evening of the eleven-day anniversary observance, President Nixon is pinching the visiting U.N. heads of state for a White House dinner. At any rate, when Zubin Mehta conducts the Ninth, Schiller's prophecy will still be unfulfilled.

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