{"id":26,"date":"2020-06-01T08:04:53","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T12:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/?page_id=26"},"modified":"2020-10-05T14:22:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T18:22:03","slug":"symphony-no-6","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/symphony-no-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 “Pastoral” (1808)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Basics<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

General Information<\/span><\/p>\n

Composition dates: 1808.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dedication:\u00a0 Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz<\/strong><\/a> (also Wikipedia<\/strong><\/a>, and portrait<\/strong><\/a>) and Count Andrey Razumovsky<\/strong><\/a> (also portrait<\/strong><\/a>). Same dedicatees as Symphony No. 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instrumentation (III, IV, V<\/sup>=mvts in which they play): Strings, PicIV<\/sup>, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Cl, 2 Bsn, 2 Hn, 2 TrIII\u2014V<\/sup>, ATTbnIV\u2014V<\/sup>, TimpIV<\/sup>.<\/span><\/p>\n

First performance: 22 December 1808, Akademie at Theater-an-der-Wien. (Also Sym. No. 6.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Orchestra size for first or early performance: 12-16.3-4.3-4.3-5\/single winds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Autograph Score: Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

First published parts: April 1809, Breitkopf und H\u00e4rtel, Vienna. IMSLP<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

First published score: May 1826, Breitkopf und H\u00e4rtel, Vienna. SJSU Link<\/strong><\/a>, or IMSLP<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Movements (Tempos. Key. Form.)<\/span><\/p>\n

I. Allegro ma non troppo (MM=66). F Major. Sonata-Allegro. \u201cAwakening of Happy Feelings on Arriving in the Country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

II. Andante molto mosso (MM=50). B-flat Major (IV). Sonata-Allegro (no repeat of Expos.). \u201cScene by a Brook.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

III. Scherzo. Allegro (3\/4 MM=108)\u2014In tempo d\u2019Allegro (2\/4 MM=132). F Major. Scherzo\/Trio (extended ternary).\u00a0 \u201cJoyful Gathering of the Country Folk.\u201d\u00a0 Attacca<\/em> to:<\/span><\/p>\n

IV. Allegro (MM=80). F Minor. Sequence of events\/effects. \u201cThunder. Storm.\u201d Attacca<\/em> to:<\/span><\/p>\n

V. Finale. Allegretto (MM=60). F Major. Sonata-allegro (no expos. repeat, rondo & variation elements.). \u201cShepherds\u2019 Song: Happy and Thankful Feelings After the Storm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Significance and Structure
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 \u201cPastoral\u201d is one of only two symphonies named by Beethoven himself, and the one that most exemplifies the \u201ccharacteristic symphony\u201d genre of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The full title, \u201cPastoral Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life,” and the subtitles of each individual movement, clearly show that this symphony is related to experiencing nature.\u00a0 Given its position immediately following the stormy and yet victorious Fifth Symphony, and his \u201cheroic\u201d symphonic outlook during this time, Beethoven\u2019s notion of the heroic in Symphony No. 6 is a figure at one with and in Nature, variously resting in its bosom, celebrating its bounty, fearful of its sublime might, and in the end, expressing thanks to its Creator for all of these states.\u00a0 Beethoven\u2019s own words expressed that his desire is to have the listener feel<\/em> the journey, not just see series of images.\u00a0 Thus, the heroic object of this particular symphonic journey is the subject\u2014the careful listener experiencing the piece.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many composers before Beethoven composed musical works related to nature, such as Vivaldi\u2019s <\/strong><\/a>violin concerto The Four <\/em><\/strong>Seasons<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,<\/em> and Haydn\u2019s oratorios The Creation<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and The Seasons<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em> But unlike many of these earlier works, Beethoven indicated in the score that his Pastoral Symphony was \u201cMore the Expression of Feeling than Tone Painting.\u201d In other words, this symphony is not \u201cmerely a programmatic representation of the experience of being in nature,\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies,<\/em> 125) but it also expresses Beethoven\u2019s personal and emotional connection to Nature.\u00a0 Beethoven\u2019s love of nature is evident in many letters he wrote to his friends and acquaintances. In a letter to Teresa Malfatti<\/strong><\/a> dated May 1810, Beethoven stated, \u201cHow delighted I shall be to ramble for a while through bushes, woods, under trees, over grass and rocks. No one can love the country as much as I do.\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies,<\/em> 124.) Nature did not only mean beautiful scenes and fresh air; its most importantly quality for Beethoven was the promise of the power of healing his suffering from deafness and loneliness.\u00a0 In a letter to Franz Wegeler<\/a><\/strong>, Beethoven suggested that if his deafness would not be cured, Wegeler should \u201crent a house for me in some beautiful part of the country and then for six months I will lead the life of a peasant \u2013 perhaps that will make a difference. Resignation \u2013 what a wretched refuge!\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 123.) This shows that Beethoven thought about living a country life if his deafness would no longer allow him to compose and make music. In some way, his longing for rural life might have saved Beethoven from ultimate despair, prevented him from committing suicide after writing the Heiligenstadt Testament<\/strong><\/a> in 1802.<\/span><\/p>\n

From this perspective, the Sixth Symphony should not be considered as an imitation of nature, but more metaphysically as a yearning for the peacefulness of mind gained from experiencing it, communicated through the symphonic genre as an expression of feelings. In Beethoven\u2019s sketchbook, he wrote that \u201cEach act of tone-painting, as soon as it is pushed too far in instrumental music, loses its force.\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies, <\/em>132.) Although there are obvious mimetic moments in the music such as the murmuring of the brook, calls of the nightingale and cuckoo, these are not the main purpose of this composition. Beethoven composed this symphony to express emotions, such as the joyfulness for being in the country at the beginning of the symphony, the energized spirit in the third movement\u2019s folk dance, and the inner peace being achieved in the finale after the stormy fourth movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beethoven\u2019s key choice of F major has a long tradition of compositions related to nature, such as Bach\u2019s aria, \u201cThe shepherd gathers now his flock.\u201d The tradition characterizes the key as representing the pastoral world, as well as \u201can ideal picture at peace with itself.\u201d (Geck, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies: Nine approaches to Art and Ideas, <\/em>105.)\u00a0 Beethoven\u2019s other symphonic works of the time, notably the Fifth Symphony composed the same year and premiered on the same concert in December 1808, rely heavily on the Sublime aesthetic for its dramatic journey.\u00a0 Unlike its 1808 sibling, the Pastoral Symphony is dominated by the aesthetic of Beauty. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, the beautiful is rational, pleasurable and dream-like; the sublime, on the other hand, is irrational, ecstatic, and primordial. (Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy<\/em>, 126.) In his Sixth Symphony, Beethoven desired to convey the overall feelings of pleasure and repose rather than overwhelming the listener. The sublime does make a weighty appearance in the fourth movement, which depicts a storm using \u00a0Sturm und Drang<\/a><\/em><\/strong> stylistic gestures.\u00a0 This short sublime movement, with a unique structure impressing one as formless in the traditional sense, does not overwhelm the symphony, but instead offers a brief moment of terror that brings into further relief the calm, peace and finally joy of the journey.\u00a0 Indeed, carefully considering the structure of the unusual five-movement format of this symphony in light of the traditional four-movement structure leads to a conclusion that the fourth \u201cstorm\u201d movement is itself a structural interruption between the expected scherzo (third) and finale movements. Thus, the interruptive \u201csublime\u201d movement upholds current Kantian aesthetic concepts of the beautiful and sublime: according to Kant, the beautiful involves the purposiveness of form, while the judgement of the sublime is to be found in a formless object. (Doran, The Theory of Sublime, from Longinus to Kant<\/em>, 211.)\u00a0 Furthermore, the brief foray into the sublime serves to emphasize the beautiful by giving it a sense of overcoming.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[We refer the reader to the following recording for the ensuing discussion: Br\u00fcggen<\/strong><\/a> conducts Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n

The serenity, easy-going opening of Sixth Symphony takes along the audience into a realm of sound that is completely different from the Fifth Symphony.\u00a0 The first movement, \u201cThe awakening of happy feelings on arriving in the country,\u201d is in sonata-form. It opens with the cello and bass playing a rustic open fifth while the violins play a lyrical and joyful melody which includes a simple folk-like melody<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(0:00-0:58) based on repetitive rhythmic and melodic motives that will be developed throughout the whole movement. The joyful simplicity of these materials is enhanced by its thorough use of major keys, especially F, the dominant key of C, and some substantial material in the subdominant B-flat. The first movement\u2019s development section<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(4:56-7:18) features sudden and unprepared shifts to keys a third away (e.g. B-flat to D major, G to E major), as if rays of sunshine unexpectedly peek through a cloud, and a brief but effective move to the minor mode, which has been denied, just before the recapitulation.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven sketched an idea in 1803 labeled \u201cmurmurs of the brooks\u201d with the words \u201cthe greater the Brook, the deeper the tone.\u201d This comes to fruition with the second movement<\/a> of the Sixth Symphony: \u201cScene by the Brook.\u201d Lockwood continues: \u201cLabeling this movement as a \u2018scene\u2019. . . evokes the concept of a theatrical situation, a dramatic action unit that contains one or more musical Numbers or even a single character singing in an aria.\u201d (Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 136.) This movement is composed in a four-part sonata form, and contains the most directly mimetic gestures of the work (with the possible exception of the storm scene fourth movement). \u00a0The brook\u2019s motion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(0:00-0:23) is depicted in the strings by repeated triplet figures, later subdivided into sixteenth-note patterns in the middle and lower register, but always in a continuous rhythmic, rippling motion, evoking the movement of a flowing river. The combined use of instrumentation (violin and flutes), trills, distinctive melodic figures and high register creates the sounds of birds. These trills are first long-held notes, then on short and graceful notes, creating the immediate picture of birds flying across the stream. Later, trills joined by a rising arpeggio in the high flute which Schindler called a \u201cyellow-hammer.\u201d (Lockwood,\u00a0Beethoven’s Symphonies<\/em>,\u00a0137.) As the brook gains in strengths and depth, the bird sounds such as trills and short figures increase in number and density, especially at the end of the development section and late in the recapitulation. The most directly-referenced bird songs appear at the end, where Beethoven specifically names three individual birds and labeling each bird on the score (11:29-11:48, 11:53-12:11)\u2014the nightingale (solo flute), the quail (solo oboe),\u00a0 and the cuckoo (two clarinets)<\/strong><\/a>\u2014which combine to form a single passage that dominates the coda.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the relaxing pictorial \u201cScene by the Brook,\u201d the remaining movements, including the peasants\u2019 scherzo, interrupting storm, and \u201chymn of thanksgiving\u201d finale, proceed without pause, as had the last two movements of the Fifth Symphony. Thus, the drama moves forward in an uninterrupted sequence depicting the vibrant gathering of peasants, whose frolicking is interrupted by a storm, and as the weather clears and calm returns, the peasants offer up a happy song of thanksgiving (Lockwood, 137). In the sequence, Beethoven avoids the decisive cadences at the end of each movement, suggesting he conceived of this symphony in two halves: movements I-II with the listener-observer in solitude, and movements III-V where other people\u2014the peasants\u2014are present, thus a more social event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marked \u201cLustiges Zusammensein der landleute (Joyous gathering of country folk),\u201d the third movement<\/a> is a modified scherzo-minuet form with five sections, as he had done in Symphony No. 4 and the earliest versions of Symphony No. 5. But there are differences from the earlier scherzo movements: the meter, tempo, and musical characteristics are sharply changed in the middle section of this movement. The scherzo section<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(0:00-1:47) begins with a juxtaposition of two contrasting phrases with different tonalities and articulations, the first phrase being played by the staccato<\/em> strings in F major, responded to by a legato<\/em> second phrase in D major played by strings and woodwinds. The unexpected third-related (mediant) modulation, which based on the pivot note A-natural, conveys a rustic pastoral folk tune humor, and connects it to similar modulations in the development of the first movement. The real \u201cscherzo\u201d characteristic, that of playing rhythmic tricks, is set up by clear, incessant downbeat gestures at the beginning of the movement which reappear at the end of the scherzo section: a scherzo motif<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(0:57-1:09) with tied downbeats is introduced by oboe, clarinet, and bassoon solo, as an amateur country dance band, over a steady dance accompaniment on the violins, and dominant\u2014 tonic motion in the low bassoons, viola and cello. Tonal changes are reminiscent of the development section of the first movement.\u00a0 Trumpets (without timpani) appear for the first time in this symphony to end the scherzo section.\u00a0 With its duple meter and faster tempo, the trio section<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(1:47-2:28) depicts the heavy foot stomping of a joyous Austrian country dance. (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 141.) In the last scherzo section, the unexpected liquidation in the second pastoral phrase and the following statement emphasizes the home key F major, ending with an accelerated presto with the whole orchestra strengthening the tonality of F major with sforzandi<\/em> accents to raise yet higher the frenzy of the pastoral celebration. An abrupt interruption of the dominant chord dramatically signals the next, sublime natural scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the subtitle \u201cGewitter, Sturm\u201d suggests, the fourth movement Allegro depicts a storm, eventually giving way to sunshine after rain, that Beethoven would have witnessed all too often during his walks in the country. In this movement, the beauty and the power of nature are vividly transformed by special instrumentation. The movement starts with the tremolo on low strings imitating the remote thunder. The use of the diminished seventh chord and secession of unstable modulations accumulate the musical tension, which later explodes on tutti marked in fortissimo. Alone with the timpani roll <\/strong><\/a>(0:24-0:30)\u2014the first sounds of drums in this work\u2014the running notes and the juxtaposition of quadruplets\/quintuplets on the low string successfully create the sound effect of a heavy thunderstorm, which builds up to the addition of two snarling trombones and the shrill whistling of piccolo. \u00a0<\/a>When the thunderstorm gradually disappears and is replaced by the sunshine at the end <\/strong><\/a>(3:05-end), the brass and timpani fade away and instrumentation returns to the woodwinds-and-strings orchestral character of the first movement as the peaceful pastoral scene returns, but with a sacred majesty conveyed by the inclusion of trumpets and two trombones.<\/span><\/p>\n

The remarkable bi-tonal (C and F major) opening of the finale<\/a><\/strong> \u201cHirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gef\u00fchle nach dem Strum (Shepherd\u2019s song. Happy and thankful feelings after the storm)\u201d begins a sweet last movement quite different from Beethoven\u2019s previous symphonic works. It depicts the image of a cheerful Arcadian shepherd, gathering his joyous flocks after the dark thunderstorm. (Lockwood, Beethoven’s Symphonies<\/em>,\u00a0140.) Written in 6\/8 meter, the pastoral folk tune is played by clarinet and horn as an eight-bar introduction, supported by the tonic\/dominant fifth on the low strings. The first theme<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(0:16-1:01) keeps the folk tune characteristic, played in legato first by violins, clarinet, and low strings with the tutti accompaniment, but like the first the of the Eroica<\/em> Symphony, is stated three times, each one gradually fuller in its orchestration. The contrasting transition, second theme <\/strong><\/a>(1:01-1:48) and\u00a0closing theme<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(1:48-2:09) motives are livelier with trills and staccato<\/em> figures that suggest the reemergence of birds of the first two movements from their hiding places during the storm.\u00a0 Harmonies and melodic motives that emphasize the interval of the fifth, which have appeared and connected the previous movements, are heavily reemphasized in the finale movement:\u00a0 the F-C fifth is announced at the beginning and the end by the low strings as the structural signs, modulations by keys a fifth apart in the development depict a peaceful pastoral scene, and the long coda <\/strong><\/a>(6:34-end), the fifth-key progression D-G-C-F is repeated seven times, making a beautifully organic closing scene. As Lockwood states, the ending seems to confirm the peace of nature and the peace of the soul that the work had promised from the beginning, the feeling for which the composer had been longing all his life. (Beethoven’s Symphonies<\/i>, 140.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Contributors<\/a>: WZ, YS, ZW, MER<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beethoven\u2019s Words
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is left to the listener to discover the situation . . . Anyone who has the faintest idea of rural life will have no need of descriptive titles to enable him to imagine for himself what the composer intends. Even without a description one will be able to recognize it all.\u201d\u00a0 Beethoven regarding the Pastoral<\/em> Symphony in a notebook of 1807; quoted in Antony Hopkins, The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven<\/em>, 167. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beethoven offers two main insights in this comment:\u00a0 one, he assumes that contemporary audiences would be familiar with particular topics, or topoi<\/em>, particularly within the tradition of the characteristic symphony, and two, he desires for the work to rise above simple \u201ctone-painting\u201d in its formal design and compositional cogency, placing the hearer into the center of the work as the subject.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the eighteenth century, composers often created effects through the use of musical conventions.\u00a0 Specific keys, instruments, rhythms, and textures had topical associations.\u00a0 For example, the \u201cmajestic\u201d topic was characterized by dotted rhythms, a march-like meter in two or four, and a slow or moderate tempo (all influences of the French Overture style<\/a><\/strong>).\u00a0 A \u201cpastoral\u201d topic included many of the gestures we find in Beethoven\u2019s Sixth: relaxed triplet or sixteenth note accompaniment figures, trills imitating bird calls, excessive use of the flute and oboe, particularly in solos or duets, soft horn calls, lyrical melodies, emphasis of open-fifth sonorities.\u00a0 By Beethoven\u2019s time, these topics were familiar enough for audiences to recognize them when heard. The ubiquity of pastoral gestures through the entire Sixth Symphony and Beethoven\u2019s textual labels for both the symphony as a whole and the individual movements place this symphony in the lineage of the \u201ccharacteristic symphony.\u201d Broadly defined, the term \u201cCharacteristic\u201d was, according to Richard Will, \u201cused in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to indicate instrumental music in which a subject is specified, usually by a text.\u201d (Will, The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Mozart<\/em>, 1.)\u00a0 The term was connected specifically to the symphonic repertoire by composers before Beethoven, notably Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf <\/a><\/strong>(1739-1799) and Paul Wranitzky<\/a><\/strong> (1756-1808). The amount of text used to describe the subject varies across the repertoire.\u00a0 Some composers used a single word for an entire work; others short phrases for each movement, as in Beethoven\u2019s Pastoral Symphony.\u00a0\u00a0 Unlike the later programmatic symphony, which sought to create a specific narrative (e.g. Berlioz\u2019s Symphony Fantastique<\/em><\/a><\/strong>), the Classical characteristic symphony usually aimed to create a more general feeling in the listener.\u00a0 While Beethoven\u2019s Pastoral Symphony does contain overt, specific allusions\u2014thunder, bird calls\u2014his quote clearly indicates that he did not intend to lay out a specific storyline.\u00a0 Rather, he wanted to compose music that would help the listener reflect on their own experiences and emotions.\u00a0 Beethoven wanted to create a work that would mirror the emotional states of a human experiencing Nature, and as the composer himself stated, particularly Nature\u2019s ability to \u201cgive back the echo which man desires to hear.\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven’s Symphonies<\/i>,\u00a0124.)\u00a0 By eschewing a specific narrative with an assigned protagonist, the symphony allows each individual listener to become the hero of the story.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beethoven\u2019s comment also has echoes of a letter that he sent to a publisher that included in the symphony\u2019s title, \u201cMore the Expression of Feeling than Tone Painting.\u201d While this subtitle supports the labeling of the symphony as \u201ccharacteristic\u201d in the late eighteenth-century tradition rather than \u201cprogrammatic\u201d\u2014an emerging nineteenth-century structural practice\u2014it also reveals Beethoven\u2019s discontent with many contemporary works that were too literal in their pictorialisms. \u00a0Haydn\u2019s great oratorios, especially The Creation<\/em>, were receiving such criticism. Beethoven desired to show that illustrative music could be raised to new artistic standards.\u00a0 As Lockwood states, \u201che aimed to write a work whose high level of expressive and formal cogency would match that of his recent path-breaking symphonies\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 135). Simply put, Beethoven wanted to raise the artistic merits of the tradition of pastoral instrumental works.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Contributors<\/a>: CH, MCho, MER<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Others\u2019 Words
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut Beethoven\u2019s poem!\u2026 these long periods so full of colour!\u2026 these speaking images!\u2026 these scents!\u2026 this light!\u2026 this eloquent silence!\u2026 these vast horizons!\u2026 these magic hideouts in the woods!\u2026 these golden harvests!\u2026 these pink clouds like wandering specks in the sky!\u2026 this vast plain dozing under the midday sun!\u2026 Man is absent!\u2026 nature alone reveals herself glorying in her splendour\u2026 And the deep rest of everything that lives! And the wonderful life of everything that rests!\u2026 The little stream that pursues its murmuring course towards the river!\u2026 the river, the source of all water, which descends towards the ocean in majestic silence!\u2026 Then man appears, the man from the countryside, robust and full of religious feeling\u2026 his joyful play interrupted by the storm\u2026 his fears\u2026 his hymn of thanksgiving\u2026\u201d Hector Berlioz, \u201cA Critical Study of the Symphonies of Beethoven<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d from A travers chants<\/em> (1862).\u00a0 Translated by Michel Austin, The Hector Berlioz Website<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1862, Berlioz wrote with his usual flair of the pastoral and programmatic character of Beethoven\u2019s Sixth Symphony. Beethoven greatly enjoyed nature and the countryside, seeing it as a release from his impending deafness and despair as detailed in the Heiligenstadt Testament<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em> Lockwood verifies this by saying, \u201cIf we regard Beethoven\u2019s love of nature not only as a trait of character\u2014one that was both highly personal and typical of the German Romantics\u2014but as a release from his persistent loneliness and deafness, it gives us a new perspective on his impulse that attains its highest artistic form in the \u2018Pastoral\u2019 Symphony.\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 123.)\u00a0 The topic of the pastoral<\/a><\/strong> revolves around the depiction of the countryside through literature, art, and music. Berlioz’s description <\/a><\/strong>touches on this aspect using such words as images, scents, lights, horizons, woods, and harvests. \u00a0While these are depicted in the pastoral qualities of this symphony in varying degrees of mimetic directness, Beethoven emphasizes the human experience throughout, taking the listener through an emotional journey into his place of calm and respite.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note the use of movement titles, chosen by Beethoven himself. \u201cErwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande\u201d (Awakening of happy feelings on arriving in the country) starts with a quiet dynamic<\/a>,<\/strong> going only a few seconds before landing on a fermata, perhaps reminding the listener of someone opening their eyes to a morning sunrise. The thin instrumentation also evokes a quiet morning atmosphere, with only strings, bassoon, and horn guiding the ensemble, which gradually builds to the full wind\/string compliment, where the listener can envision, or rather \u201cfeel,\u201d the sun coming up to full splendor. \u00a0\u201cScene am Bach\u201d (Scene by the brook), is full of running rhythmic lines that suggest the motion of running water. As the movement proceeds, the rhythmic division increases, giving the impression that the water is running faster. (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 137.) Helping create a more calming scene, Beethoven chose the subdominant key of B-flat Major for this movement, marking a return to his conventionality followed in the First and Fourth Symphonies. This movement also contains the iconic bird calls of the nightingale<\/a><\/strong>, quail<\/a><\/strong>, and cuckoo<\/a><\/strong>, imitated by the flute, oboe, and clarinet<\/a><\/strong>, respectively. Beethoven idolized these ideas of the pastoral, insisting to his copyist that the birds\u2019 names be included in the original 1809 publication.<\/span>\u201cLustiges Zusammensein der Landleute<\/a><\/strong>\u201d (Merry gathering of the countryfolk) is a lively Austrian peasant dance<\/a><\/strong>, switching between duple and triple meter modeling the traditional dances of the day. (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 141.) Beethoven clearly idolized these traditions, and wanted his listeners to experience the joy and energy felt through the dance.\u00a0 Some of the most notable pastoral depictions come during \u201cGewitter, Sturm\u201d (Thunder, Storm). It begins with a sudden shift from F Major to a tremolo D-flat<\/a><\/strong> in the cellos and basses, emulating the thunder, and this also marks the first substantial use of F minor by Beethoven. Lightning strikes are played by the first violins, and sharp sforzandi<\/em> invoke the feeling of nature rearing its ugly head. Chromatic scales<\/a><\/strong> and whistling piccolo mimic the wind ripping through the forest, until the equally sudden shift commencing the \u201cFrohe und dankbare Gef\u00fchle nach dem Sturm\u201d (Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm). The motive of a horn call<\/a><\/strong> permeates this movement through several instruments, hearkening the shepherds calling their flocks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beethoven was not the only composer who wrote works with similar pastoral \u201cprograms,\u201d but no contemporaneous work reached the same artistic level as his \u201cPastoral\u201d Symphony. Beethoven denied his work was programmatic in a specific, picturesque sense, and in general showed disdain for almost all overtly program music of his time, saying, \u201ceach act of tone-painting, as soon as it is pushed too far in instrumental music, loses its force.\u201d He specifically wanted his listeners to experience the music for themselves and to be immersed, rather than viewing sketches of the countryside in their minds. His process while sketching the \u201cPastoral\u201d Symphony revealed his intention to use music to depict specific scenic aspects. (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 132-134.) The third and fourth movements of the Sixth Symphony especially seem no less descriptive than Berlioz\u2019s Symphonie Fantastique<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. (Mendl, Beethoven as a Writer of Programme Music, <\/em>173-174.)<\/span><\/p>\n

But Beethoven may have accomplished something the later programmatic symphonies did not. The symphony still would have held together well as an instrumental work, and would have sounded no different, even if it was simply named Symphony No. 6 without the titles given for each movement. It would still arouse in its audiences not only pictorial associations, but also universal emotions that all humans can experience: the peace, serenity, and healing Romantics associated with being in nature. But its structural and compositional properties are equally important in unifying this piece into an artwork whose artistic value could match that of his greatest symphonies. Perhaps that is the reason for Beethoven\u2019s grudging acceptance of program music, for he wanted his music to work towards the higher values than being merely sensational. As Lockwood and Richard Will point out, the \u201cPastoral\u201d Symphony is both a formalistic symphony and a \u201cprogrammatic symphony as it was practiced, not by Berlioz and Liszt, but by Beethoven\u2019s contemporaries and predecessors,\u201d as it follows \u201cthe pastoral tradition that employs many of the time-honored pictorial devices known to the programmatic genres, and uses them in such a way that listeners could indeed delight in recognizing and enjoying his imitations of natural sounds within the fabric of the composition.\u201d (Lockwood, Beethoven\u2019s Symphonies<\/em>, 135.) Regardless of the controversy, it is fair to say that this work greatly influenced Romantic composers of program music<\/a><\/strong>, including the author of the above quote, Hector Berlioz.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Contributors<\/a>: JF, YLiu, MER<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Topics and readings for further inquiry<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rhetorical Topics or Topoi<\/em> in Classical Music
\n<\/u><\/span>Ratner, Leonard. Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style<\/em>. New York: Schirmer, 1980.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Characteristic Symphony Tradition
\n<\/u><\/span>Will, Richard. The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven<\/em>. New York: Cambridge, 2002.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beethoven and Program Music
\n<\/u><\/span>Mendl, R. W. S. “Beethoven as a Writer of Programme Music.” The Musical Quarterly<\/em> 14, no. 2 (1928): 172-77. Accessed July 22, 2020. JSTOR link<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Online Resources<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Early Editions of Score and Parts
\n<\/u><\/span>Holograph manuscript, n.d.[1808].<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

First Published Edition: Leipzig: Breitkopf und H\u00e4rtel, n.d. [1826]. Plate 4311.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

First Complete Scholar Edition. <\/a>Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, Serie 1: Symphonien, Nr.6.<\/em><\/a>Leipzig: Breitkopf und H\u00e4rtel, n.d.[1862]. Plate B.5.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Parts (First Edition): Leipzig: Breitkopf und H\u00e4rtel, n.d.[1809]. Plate 1337.<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Modern Edition of the Score
\n<\/u><\/span>1989 Dover Edition (Reprint of the Braunschweig: Henry Litolff’s Verlag, No. 2770, n.d. (ca.1880))<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1976 Dover Edition (Reprint of the edition by Leipzig: Ernst Eulenburg, n.d. [1938])<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

New York Philharmonic score<\/a><\/strong> with annotations from Leonard Bernstein.<\/span><\/p>\n

New York Philharmonic score<\/a><\/strong> with annotations from Erich Leinsdorf.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recordings available online
\n<\/u><\/span>Period\/HIP Performances\u2014
\n<\/span>Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Harnoncourt
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Complete set of Beethoven Symphonies<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Orchestra of the 18th Century, Br\u00fcggen
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Complete Set of Beethoven Symphonies by Orchestra of the 18th Century and Br\u00fcggen<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>An excellent interpretation by another leading early music expert and his period instrument ensemble, both from Netherland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Orchestre R\u00e9volutionnaire et Romantique, Gardiner
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Important Recordings by Modern Orchestras\u2014
\n<\/span>Tonhalle-Orchestra Zurich, Zinman
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Modern orchestra recording, but one of the first to use Jonathan del Mar\u2019s critical edition (B\u00e4renreiter) of the symphony, which tries to capture some of the HIP spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bernstein conducts Wiener Philharmoniker<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>1978 live, with the conductor\u2019s commentary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra, Herreweghe
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Complete Set of Beethoven Symphonies by RFRO and Herreweghe<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Modern orchestra led by one of the most important early music experts of our time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Munich Philharmonic, Celibidache
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>One of the slowest interpretations of this symphony, actually the conductor\u2019s iconic slowness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span>Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Thielemann
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, <\/strong>5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/span>Probably VPO\u2019s most important Beethoven symphonies cycle during the first 20 years of the new century. Representative interpretation of the so-called German-Austria tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span>Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Kleiber
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Remastered from a cassette recording of the broadcast. Transparent sound, fast tempo, vigorous emotion, and energetic spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Berlin Philharmonc, Cluytens
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Andr\u00e9 Cluytens with BPO\u2019s 1960 cycle is the earliest stereo recording of Beethoven Complete Symphonies in the history of recording. It is also the first Beethoven Complete Symphonies under a French conductor. Pastoral has gained some of the highest praise and acknowledgment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Descriptions available online (videos, program notes, etc.,)
\n<\/u><\/span>Comments by Hector Berlioz<\/a><\/strong>, from \u201cA Critical Study of Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies,\u201d p. 71.
\n<\/span>Web version<\/a><\/strong> (different translation; easier to navigate)<\/span><\/p>\n

Graphic score, for site visitors who do not read music.
\n<\/span>1st movement<\/a>, 2nd movement<\/a>, 3rd movement<\/a>, 4th movement<\/a>, 5th movement<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Video Analysis<\/a><\/strong> (color-coded score) showing motivic development in the 1st movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interview with Leonard Bernstein<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Demonstrating at the piano (excerpt from the 1978 commentary listed above).<\/span><\/p>\n

Giancarlo Guerrero<\/a><\/strong> (Music Director, Nashville Symphony) discusses the symphony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Symphony No. 6: Pantheism and camaraderie | Gardiner and the ORR on Beethoven’s Symphonies<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Marianne Williams Tobias, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Program Notes<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

John Henken, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl Program Notes<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Christopher H. Gibbs, Philadelphia Orchestra Program Notes<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Phillip Huscher, \u00a0Chicago Symphony Orchestra Program Notes<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Aspen Music Festival program notes<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Discusses background and programmatic\/musical qualities of each movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Classical Notes<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Very detailed notes on background, genesis, structure, programmatic nature, influence, performance issues, and notable recordings.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Basics General Information Composition dates: 1808. Dedication:\u00a0 Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz (also Wikipedia, and portrait) and Count Andrey Razumovsky (also portrait). Same dedicatees as Symphony No. 5. Instrumentation (III, IV, V=mvts in which they play): Strings, PicIV, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Cl, 2 Bsn, 2 Hn, 2 TrIII\u2014V, ATTbnIV\u2014V, TimpIV. First performance: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-26","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/beethoven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}