CXV. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Symphony #6 in F Major, Op. 68 ("Pastoral")

CXV. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Symphony #6 in F Major, Op. 68 ("Pastoral") (1808)
1. Allegro ma non troppo. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande (Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside)
2. Andante molto mosso. Szene am Bach (Scene by the brook)
3. Allegro. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Merry gathering of country folk)
4. Allegro. Gewitter, Sturm (Thunder, Storm)
5. Allegretto. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm (Shepherd's song. Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm)
Berlin Philharmonic
Bernard Haitink, cond.
(44:46)

and I thought my sketchbooks were hard to read ...

**

A non-musician friend of mine once asked me, "what makes Beethoven so great?"

I replied that I thought his simplicity was covered in complexity. For example, look at the simple harmony which opens the work:

Just a quiet shift from tonic to dominant, with one sub-dominant (the IV) chord thrown in. The melody skips along like a stone on a lake. After the fermata, the seconds violin take up a phrase, while the firsts decorate it.

It's all so simple. And yet things get awfully complex after awhile. Near the end of the movement, Beethoven shouts the theme out -- firmly -- in the subdominant (10:38):

Second Movement

Meanwhile, look how peaceful things are down the by the brook (12:40):

At the end of the movement, Beethoven gives us a musical picture of the birds he hears (nightingale [flute]; quail [oboe] and cuckoo [clarinet]:

Third Movement

Happy countryfolk! Note the delicate dance in the unison strings (24:41):

Fourth Movement

Note how Beethoven paints the scene of the coming storm (30:12).

The celli and basses start off the a threatening tremolo, pianissimo. The second violins play a staccato, bouncy line -- the country folk are still dancing!

But see how the first violins come in with a threatening three-note phrase! The storm is coming!

After the storm, notice how Beethoven uses the final two bars to introduce the final movement with a V of V -- that means that he's using a G7 (dominant to C Major) to set up the initial use of that dominant before he settles back into F Major ... magic! (34:09)

End of Fourth/Fifth Movement