NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Symphony No. 6 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major (Op. 68), known as the Pastoral Symphony, was completed in the year 1808. One of Beethoven's few works of program music, the symphony was labeled at its first performance with the title "Recollections of Country Life". 1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ... Opus, from the Latin word opus meaning work, is usually used in the sense of a work of art. In this sense the plural of opus, opera, is used to refer to the genre of music drama. ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Program music is music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood [1]. By contrast, absolute music stands for itself and is intended to be appreciated without any particular reference to the outside world. ...

Background

Beethoven was a lover of nature who spent a great deal of his time on walks in the country. He frequently left Vienna to work in rural locales. He was, however, not the first composer to depict nature symphonically; for example, Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons, premiered in 1802, likewise portrayed the loveliness of nature, dancing peasants, a thunderstorm, bird calls, and so on. Beethoven did not write another oratorio, but a symphony, and thus escaped from the overly-literal character that a libretto would have imposed. As the composer said, the Sixth Symphony is "a matter more of feeling than of painting in sounds", and the same point is made in the title he attached to the first movement (see below). This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ... The Seasons (German: Die Jahreszeiten) is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ...

The Pastoral Symphony was composed simultaneously with Beethoven's more famous -- and more fiery -- Fifth Symphony. It was premiered along with the Fifth in a long and somewhat underrehearsed concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, on December 22, 1808. It was received rather coldly, mainly due to the excitement caused by its more flamboyant counterpart. Although the Sixth Symphony contains some of Beethoven's most beautiful writing, the crowds had been wanting another bold and adventurous work, and the relatively calm and introspective composition was not wholly to their liking. The coversheet to Beethovens 5th Symphony. ... The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre in Vienna. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ...

Since this inauspicious beginning, however, the work has become one of the central works of the symphonic repertoire. It is a favorite of many listeners and is frequently performed and recorded today.

Orchestration

A woodwind instrument is a wind instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... The piccolo is a small flute. ... The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™ clarinet (left) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... A Fox Products bassoon. ... Image of a trumpet. ... The horn is a brass instrument that consists of tubing wrapped into a coiled form, now with finger-operated valves to help control the pitch but originally without valves to control the pitch. ... The trumpet is the highest brass instrument in register, above the horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... A percussion instrument can be any object which produces a sound by being struck with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ... Alternate meaning: Cello web browser A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and part of the violin family. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

Form

The symphony breaks from the standard symphonic form of the time in having five movements, rather than the four typical of the Classical era. The movements are marked as follows: The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1730 through 1820, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ...

A performance of the work lasts about 40 minutes. The last three movements are performed together without pause. In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... This article is about tempo in music. ...

Description of Movements

I. Allegro ma non troppo

The symphony begins with a placid and cheerful movement depicting the composer's feelings as he arrives in the country. The work is in sonata form, and makes use of a small number of themes, each of which is extensively developed and transformed. In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... Sonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. ...

An unusual aspect of the movement is the use of a microscopic texture, obtained by multiple repetitions of very short motifs. As Yvonne Frindle has said, "the infinite repetition of pattern in nature [is] conveyed through rhythmic cells, its immensity through sustained pure harmonies."

II. Andante molto mosso

This movement, entitled by Beethoven "By the brook," is held to be one of Beethoven's most beautiful and serene compositions. It is in a 12/8 measure and the key is B flat major, the subdominant of the main key of the work, and is in sonata form. This article is about tempo in music. ... In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. ...

At the opening the strings play a motif that clearly imitates flowing water. The cello section is divided, with just two players playing the flowing-water notes on muted instruments, with the remaining cellos playing mostly pizzicato notes together with the double basses. Pizzicato is a method of playing a bowed string instrument by plucking the strings with the fingers, rather than using the bow. ...

Toward the end of the movement there is a cadenza for three woodwind instruments that imitates bird calls. Beethoven helpfully identified the bird species in the score: nightingale (flute), quail (oboe), and cuckoo (clarinet). A cadenza is usually now taken to mean a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be written or improvised, depending on what the composer specifies. ... A woodwind instrument is a wind instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... Binomial name Luscinia megarhynchos (Brehm, 1831) This article is about the bird. ... Genera Coturnix Anurophasis Perdicula Ophrysia â€ See also Pheasant, Partridge, Grouse Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the pheasant family Phasianidae, or in the family Odontophoridae. ... Genera See text. ...

III. Allegro

This is the scherzo movement of the symphony, which depicts the country folk dancing and reveling. It is in F major, returning to the main key of the symphony. A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ...

The form of the movement is an altered version of the usual form for scherzi, as follows:

In other words, the Trio appears twice rather than just once, and each time it appears it is interrupted by a boisterous passage in 2/4 time (a similar 2/4 eruption is found in Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata for piano). Perhaps to accommodate this rather spacious arrangement, Beethoven left out the normally observed repeats of the second parts of the scherzo and the trio. Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Sonata No. ...

The final return of Scherzo conveys a riotous atmosphere with a faster tempo. The movement ends abruptly when the country folk notice that raindrops are starting to fall...

IV. Allegro

The fourth movement, in F minor depicts a violent thunderstorm with painstaking realism, starting with just a few drops of rain and building to a great climax. There is, of course, thunder, as well as lightning, high winds, and sheets of rain. From Beethoven's injunction that the symphony is meant to be more "a matter more of feeling than of painting in sounds," one might guess that the movement depicts not just the storm itself, but the feelings of awe and fear experienced by a witness to the storm.

The storm eventually spends itself, with an occasional peal of thunder still heard in the distance. There is a seamless transition into the final movement, including a theme that could be interpreted as depicting a rainbow. Full featured rainbow in Wrangell-St. ...

Since the fourth movement does not resolve in a final cadence, and by the pattern of Classical symphonies would count as the "extra" movement among the five, critics have described it structurally as an extended introduction to the final movement, rather than an independent movement in itself. A precedent for Beethoven's procedure is found in an earlier work (1787), Mozart's String Quintet in G minor K. 516, which likewise prefaces a serene final movement with a long, emotionally stormy introduction. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 â€“ December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ...

V. Allegretto

The finale is in F major and is in 6/8 time. The first eight bars form a continuation of the introduction of which the storm was the main part; the finale proper begins in the ninth bar. The movement is written in sonata rondo form, meaning that the main theme appears in the tonic key at the beginning of the development as well as the exposition and the recapitulation. There is a very long coda; the tail that wags the dog. This article is about tempo in music. ... Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ...

Like many classical finales, this movement emphasises a symmetrical eight-bar theme, in this case representing the shepherds' song of thanksgiving. The mood throughout is unmistakably joyful.

The coda, which Antony Hopkins has called "arguably the finest music of the whole symphony," starts quietly and gradually builds to an ecstatic culmination for the full orchestra (minus "storm instruments"), with the first violins playing very rapid triplets at the top of their range. There follows a fervent passage suggestive of prayer, marked by Beethoven "pianissimo, sotto voce"; most conductors slow the tempo for this passage. After a brief period of afterglow, the work ends with two emphatic chords. Antony Hopkins (born 1921) is an English composer, also known for his books of musical analysis and his radio programs Talking About Music broadcast for many years by the BBC. Not to be confused with actor Sir Anthony Hopkins who has composed some music, including some for the film August... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ...

The Sixth Symphony in popular culture

Fantasia is a 1940 motion picture produced by Walt Disney. ... For the metal band, see Soilent Green. ...

Books

Antony Hopkins (born 1921) is an English composer, also known for his books of musical analysis and his radio programs Talking About Music broadcast for many years by the BBC. Not to be confused with actor Sir Anthony Hopkins who has composed some music, including some for the film August... Charles Rosen (born May 5, 1927) is an American pianist and music theorist. ...

Recordings

External links

Categories: Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven | Romantic symphonies 1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Ludwig van Beethoven. ... Ludwig van Beethoven is viewed as a pivotal figure in the history of European classical music, and important both as an important figure in the Classical and Romantic eras of musical history. ... During the course of his lifetime (1770-1827), the composer Ludwig van Beethoven enjoyed relationships with many of his musical contemporaries. ... Below is a complete list of works by Beethoven with dates of publication in parentheses: // Opus 21: Symphony No. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony Number 2 in D Major, (Op. ... Eroica Symphony Title Page The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ... The coversheet to Beethovens 5th Symphony. ... Ludwig van Beethoven began concentrated work on his Symphony No. ... Beethovens Symphony no. ... The Symphony No. ...

Contents

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