Notes - Symphony No. 6

(An online essay about Symphony No. 6 on classicalnotes.net)

(An online essay about Symphony No. 6 on npr.org)

                Symphony No. 6, subtitled "Pastoral Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life," 
        is Beethoven's homage to nature.  Beethoven had been enthralled by nature since child-
        hood, and left Vienna almost every summer for rural towns outside of the city.  He shared 
        the Romantic's reverence of nature, and while some Romantics were atheists, Beethoven 
        saw nature as evidence of God's perfect creative goodness.

               Symphony No. 6 has been called the "anti-5th" because it eschews the heroic nature 
        of Symphony No. 5 with its "darkness to light," Kampf and Seig theme and the dark sub-
        jective emotions of the first movement.  Four of the five movements (Symphony No. 6 is 
        the first symphony to have more than four movements) are in bright major keys and there  
        is no drama, or fate, in them.  Each is about positive emotional experiences.  Beethoven 
        makes use of folk song melodies and folk dance rhythms to portray country life.

               Only the fourth movement, the thunderstorm, is in a minor key and has some drama.  
        While it is "dark," it is only nature doing its thing.  There is nothing for the human spirit to 
        overcome.  Once the storm passes, the fifth movement has the rural folk giving thanks not 
        only for the storm passing, but also for the rain it provided.  

              Symphony No. 6 is program music, that is, it is instrumental music about a subject.   
        For instance, Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons  (1725) which was also about nature.  
        But while Vivaldi attempted to replicate the sounds of nature, Beethoven wants to give 
        you the feeling of nature (i.e. the feeling of being in a thunderstorm, rather than repro-
        ducing what a thunderstorm actually sounds like).  Beethoven does, however, replicate  
        some sounds of nature, particularly bird calls, but he keeps   it to a minimum. 

      Feelings of beauty, rapture, trance-like ecstasy, timelessness, holiness, joy and gratitude 
      are the sixth symphony's primary goals.

              Program music makes up only a small part of Beethoven's output, the majority of it 
        is about no specific subject, it is just an expression of subjective emotions (Beethoven said 
        that he was providing emotions for the listener to create their own stories that fit the music).



German titleTranslationTempo markingKey
I.Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen
 bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande
Awakening of cheerful feelings
 on arrival in the countryside
Allegro ma non troppoF major
II.Szene am BachScene by the brookAndante molto mossoB major
III.Lustiges Zusammensein der LandleuteMerry gathering of country folkAllegroF major
IV.Gewitter, SturmThunder, StormAllegroF minor
V.Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare
Gefühle nach dem Sturm
Shepherd's song. Cheerful and
 thankful feelings after the storm
AllegrettoF major

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