Symphony No. 6 in F Major, “Pastoral,” Op. 68

• Beethoven composed his Sinfonia pastorale in 1808.¹
• Beethoven’s 6th Symphony premiered at the Dec. 22, 1808 four-hour Viennese concert described here, along with his 5th Symphony, Choral Fantasy, his Piano Concerto No. 4, and more.²

“No-one can love the country as much as I do. For surely woods, trees and rocks produce the echo which man desires to hear.”

Beethoven to Therese Malfatti in 1810

• Beethoven cautioned against considering the “Pastoral” Symphony too literal a description of programmatic events. He described the work as “mehr Ausdruck der Empfindung als Malerey” (“more the expression of feeling than painting“).³

Movements

1. Awakening of Cheerful Feelings on Arriving in the Country
2. Scene by the Brook. In this movement, Beethoven labeled the musical representation of three kinds of birds: quails, portrayed by the oboe, cuckoos, portrayed by the clarinet, and nightingales, portrayed by the flute.
3. Merry Gathering of Country Folk. Listen for the evocation of a slightly tipsy village band.
4. Thunderstorm
5. Shepherd’s Song–Happy, Thankful Feelings after the Storm⁴

1. Douglas Johnson et al, “Beethoven, Ludwig van,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed February 10, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040026.
2. Ibid.
3.  Roger Scruton,”Programme music,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed February 11, 2021, https://proxy.multcolib.org:2669/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000022394.
4.  Betsy Schwarm, “Symphony No. 6 in F Major,” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 4, 2017, accessed February 11, 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Symphony-No-6-in-F-Major.