Babbling Brooks and Beethoven's Symphony No 6
The Best Moments
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ("Pastoral")
I'm Ludwig van Beethoven, and what follows are the best moments of my Symphony No 6. You'll experience the stretch where a village dance breaks off into a storm and melts into a thankful shepherd's song, with hardly a pause between them. Here on this site my fellow composers and I also teach you to recognize our pieces when they play, so give the Trainer a go .
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A Stroll With No Appointment
I open the first movement by stepping out of the city and into the countryside, and I mark it Allegro ma non troppo, which is my polite way of saying lively, but please don't trip over your own feet. The theme is simple and folk-like, a little tune that repeats itself happily, like someone who has found a lovely spot and keeps telling you how lovely it is.
Please Don't Splash the Cellos
I begin the second movement beside a brook, and I give the cellos the job of being the water, with a gently rocking figure that never runs out of river. Some of them are muted so the flow stays soft, and I'm saving a surprise for the end, where a flute, an oboe and the clarinets turn into a nightingale, a quail and a cuckoo.
The Party Gets Going
I bring in the third movement as a merry gathering of country folk, and I write it as a scherzo, which is simply a playful, dance-like piece. It bounces along in three beats to the bar with a cheerful, slightly rustic swing that makes you want to join in, though I should warn you that this party doesn't end the way the guests expect.
Someone Forgot the Umbrella
I break off the dance and let the storm begin at once, so the guests get no time at all to look for their coats. The piccolo flashes like lightning, the timpani rumble like thunder, and the trombones join in with one huge, lurching chord that makes the whole orchestra sound like a sky in a very bad mood.
Thank You, Sky
I let the storm fade away with a single flute climbing gently upward, as if someone is peeking out to check whether it's safe, and then the finale begins as a shepherd's song marked Allegretto. It sounds warm and grateful, the relief of someone shaking out a wet coat and laughing about it.
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So we've reached the end of the walk, and I find I'm a little reluctant to leave the countryside behind. Did you enjoy learning about the best moments of Symphony No 6? When I wrote it, I wanted you to feel what it's like to be out in nature, and I never meant it to be a series of pictures. That's why the symphony ends the way it does, with a quiet coda and two soft chords in F major, like a long, contented breath after a good day outdoors. I think about how that music first reached an audience in Vienna in 1808, in a concert that also gave the world my Fifth Symphony. It still moves me that two such different works shared one evening. There's much more in Symphony No 6 than I could fit into these pages. You could listen again for the way the last three movements flow into one another without a pause, so the merry gathering, the storm and the song of thanks seem to grow out of each other. You might also follow a single instrument through a whole movement, or compare how different orchestras shape the same brook and the same storm. If you'd like to keep exploring, I invite you to click on the links provided and let the symphony show you something new. I hope that next time you hear it, you'll be able to settle into it as comfortably as into a favorite chair by an open window.