Western Musiz

Ludwig van Beethoven (b. Bonn, Germany, 1770 - d. Vienna, Austria, 1827) Symphony #6 in F Major, Op. 68, "Pastoral" (published 1809, the year Lincoln was born)

Beethoven said, “Music is a higher revelation that all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”

Musically, this symphony describes “ infinite repetition of patterns in nature, conveyed through repeated rhythmic motives … (nature’s) immensity through sustained pure harmonies.” Beethoven found his “center” in nature. (Google images of Beethoven)

Listen on Naxosmusiclibrary: Beethoven Symphony #6, Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

Movement Titles; on Youtube, Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic

I. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country - Allegro ma non troppo – sonata form

II. A scene by the brook - Andante molto mosso: sonata-allegro form

III. Merry gathering of the peasants – Allegro - Scherzo

IV. Storm – Allegro: thunder, lightning, violent wind, heavy rain

V. Shepard's Song - joy and gratitude following the storm – Allegretto: sonata-rondo form

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770, which places his birth historically right in the midst of the Classical Era (1750-1820). His life and works fall, as do those of many artists, into developmental stages. He inherited the Classical forms and styles prevalent in the beginning of his life, and his early works are indeed Classical in nature. He was very much influenced by the prevailing styles of Mozart and Franz Josef Haydn; they knew each other and the music of each other. As he matured and his musical style developed, he pushed into uncharted waters, becoming a uniquely Romantic composer, some of whose later works sound avant-garde to this day. Mozart was 14 when Beethoven was born.  Ludwig’s musical education was undertaken by his father. He saw in his son’s talent another Mozart. His father worked not only for Ludwig's education and musical development, but also hoped to use his wunderkind son’s talents for financial gain. In Bonn, Ludwig learned to play the piano, clavier, organ, violin and viola; these were the same instruments that Mozart had studied. Beethoven also studied the philosophy of Emmanuel Kant. The Age of Enlightenment, discussed as an influence on Mozart, was at its height in intellectual and political circles in Bonn when Beethoven began writing music. Society was turning from superstition toward intellectual reason and scientific knowledge. In 1787, when Beethoven was 17, he left Bonn and visited Vienna where, among other things, he met Mozart and impressed him with his piano-playing. In this year, Beethoven's mother died, and gradually his father fell to intemperate ways. Ludwig, a sensitive young man, no longer had a stable home life.    In 1792, Ludwig moved to Vienna, where his musical career began to move ahead. Here he studied with many famous teachers of that time, including the composer Antonio Salieri, the famous teacher of Mozart; and with Haydn. He gave his first public performance there in 1795, one of his own piano concertos, and became a popular and successful performer of recitals and concerts. He met and may have studied for a short time with Mozart himself.

The development of the fortepiano in the 2nd half of the 1700's gave Beethoven great scope for his compositions for piano. The features of playing loud and soft that this instrument provided greatly increased the expressive possibilities that were not available on the harpsichord, largely in use prior to that time. The orchestra also became a dramatic vehicle for Beethoven’s expressive needs. His 1st and 2nd Symphonies were performed at Schickeneder's Theatre auf den Wien, where Mozart's Magic Flute had been performed 12 years earlier. Also on the program was his 3rd piano concerto, with Beethoven himself at the piano.

His hearing began to deteriorate in about 1800, and 20 years later, his hearing loss was total. This happened due to lead poisoning, probably found in water that he drank over a long period of time. It caused a ringing in his ears, called Tinnitus. This was not discovered during his lifetime, but after his death, by analyzing a piece of his hair that had been saved. Despite his sense of social isolation, this did not prevent him from writing some of the most expressive and profound music the world has known.  

The “Pastoral Symphony” was composed in 1808 in Heiligenstadt, Germany. Beethoven's deep and abiding love of nature and the countryside is reflected in this work. He said, “this work is more the expression of feelings than painting." It was not intended to represent actual images or a story, but rather to evoke moods. The Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter which Beethoven wrote in 1802 to his brothers, is a powerful and moving expression about his increasing deafness and the resulting emotional anguish. This document was discovered after Beethoven’s death.

 Beethoven Symphony #6, “Pastoral” - Mvts. 2, 3, 4 and 5

Mvt. 2: Andante molto mosso - Scene by the brook   Description: an underpinning of triplets gives the feeling of flowing water, running around small rocks and so forth. There are overlapping phrases and a subtlety of sound color; note the intermingling of strings and woodwinds.  Meter: 12/8 (4 groups of 3 inner beats per measure)  Birds: nightingale, quail, cuckoo   0:00  lower strings accompaniment pattern w/ violin motive 0:24  violin tune emerges, crescendo 0:41  clarinet and bassoon tune - listen for violin trills (bird calls) 1:07  violins in primary theme 1:28  cadential material to full cadence at 1:36 1:37  transition in strings

1:50	modulating section in strings with support in woodwinds, development of opening motive

2:21  violin tune, lower strings pizzicato; woodwinds answer violins 2:38  flute tune followed by bassoon at 2:47

2:52	bassoon solo joined by viola and cello, violin trills; talk with clarinet at 3:11

3:23  hemiola ( a rhythmic changing of feeling from 4 to a big 3 - will discuss) 3:37  violin tune with comments 4:00  violins with bassoon and flute in disjunct short stepping motion 4:12  lower strings, followed by upper strings; comments in ww 4:25  ending material - oboe, flute and bassoon to a cadence at 4:49 4:52  inversion of tune, modulating section 5:09  new key, flute and oboe alternating with motivic material from beginning 5:50  strings layering in new phrase over old phrase; transition 6:06  clarinet and bassoon, followed by clarinet solo at 6:30 6:51  layering of phrases over clarinet trill 7:02  colors in woodwinds (clarinet and bassoon) 7:14  sensitive moment 7:26  minor section, with crescendo to bloom in major at 7:38 7:50  descending pattern, the ascending pattern at 8:04 8:09  tune more active in woodwinds, string accompaniment 8:43  deceptive cadence, going into new key - beautiful cresc. to bloom 9:09  flute 9:20  bassoon, with violin trills at 9:27, joined by celli at 9:37 9:55  hemiola and ritardando to… 10:08   new section - graceful fullness 10:35  short stepping motive 11:00 Coda: ending section starts, passing tune around, with cresc. to… 11:19 blossoming of coda 11:38 full cadence 11:39 flute solo (nightingale) with clarinet (cuckoo), other clarinet, the quail 12:19 slower tempo to the end  

Mvt. 3: Scherzo - Allegro - Merry Gathering of the Peasants

Meter: A section - quick triple; B section - quick duple

Form: ABAB Coda

Vocabulary: Tremolo (shimmery string sound) and Trill (also shimmery sound: these are possible in woodwinds, strings and sometimes brass

Chord (several notes sounded together); chordal a section of music that sounds homophonic with all parts moving together in “chords”)

Staccato – very short notes

A section - quick triple meter

0:00 Theme A1 - staccato notes, followed by Theme A2 at 0:06 - lyrical, smooth notes: back and forth

0:36 crescendo, transition music

0:55 scampering violins

1:05 A3, oboe syncopated tune w/ bassoon; 1:20 flute comment; accompanied in violins by staccato notes

1:28 A3, clarinet with bassoon accompaniment

1:35 A3, French horn

1:48 transition

B section - quick duple meter

1:54 Theme B, lusty, bold and gay

2:06 flute secondary tune

2:31 end of section

A section returns

2:38 A1 and A2

3:12 crescendo and transition

3:31 scampering violins

3:41 A3, oboe, with bassoon comments

3:56 oboe echo, with flute comment

4:04 A3, clarinet

4:10 A3, French horn

4:23 transition

B section returns

4:31 Theme B

5:10 cadence and short pause

5:13 A1+2 truncated

Coda

5:29 coda is based on A1 and A2

5:34 accelerando and crescendo to forte

5:50 violins scurry into 4th movement, the storm

5:56 sudden ending, moving into Mvt. 4, Storm

Mvt. 4: Storm - Meter in 4; Form is through-composed

0:00 quiet, ominous music - staccato, uneasy violins

0:09 clarinet and flute birds; tremolo in celli and basses - distant thunder

0:24 huge crescendo to Fortissimo (ff)

0:27 huge orchestral chord with tympani rolls

0:30 jagged descending arpeggios in strings, lightning

0:43 tympani comments (lightning) and rolls (thunder)

0:46 stormy tune

0:55 pp/ff - dynamic contrasts - rumble of thunder in celli and basses

1:07 crescendo

1:13 staccato tune in violins

1:15 chords

1:21 distant thunder

1:29 clarinet

1:33 long crescendo, holding much tension before its arrival and release

1:43 tympani, stormy violin tune, descending tune in lower strings

1:58 piccolo in texture

2:07 wind in ascending and descending scale movement

2:23 unleashing of storm: tremolo in strings, tympani roll; 2:32 - loud chords

2:40 diminuendo, flurry in violins

3:05 storm subsiding, distant rolls of thunder

3:22 ray of sun - oboe with viola

3:35 flute - bird flying into Mvt. 5

Mvt. 5: Shepard’s Song - Meter in 6/8 - One 23 Four 56 – sonata-rondo form

0:00 clarinet - Call of the Shepard

0:11 French horn - Call of the Shepard

0:18 Theme A in violins - shepard song; pizzicato accompaniment in celli and basses

0:38 gradual crescendo

0:50 forte in whole orchestra

1:04 Theme B

1:21 descending motive, then transition, diminuendo

2:12 Theme A in violins, then transition

2:47 Theme C in clarinets and bassoon

3:20 Theme A in variation

3:27 Theme A with scale passages in violins

4:03 Theme A in variation, filigree in violins; passes through string sections

4:50 Theme B

5:10 descending motive

5:29 Theme A variation and transition; motivic development

6:05 Theme A variation

6:30 full sonority - harmonies moving

7:05 Theme A variation

7:33 ascending motive in lower strings

7:57 diminuendo

8:11 Coda - piano, slower - chordal, like a hymn, using Theme A

8:33 forte strings, then piano oboe

9:12 curly gestures to the end, with two strong chords