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 title	Translation	Tempo marking	Key
I.	Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen  bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande	Awakening of cheerful feelings  on arrival in the countryside	Allegro ma non troppo	F major
II.	Szene am Bach	Scene by the brook	Andante molto mosso	B♭ major
III.	Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute	Merry gathering of country folk	Allegro	F major
IV.	Gewitter, Sturm	Thunder, Storm	Allegro	F minor
V.	Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm	Shepherd's song. Cheerful and  thankful feelings after the storm	Allegretto	F major