Symphony No.

6 in F major "Pastoral" (1808)Terms

* Pastoral - Urban depiction of rural life; usually involves shepherds living in an idyllic setting; condescendingly envies the simpler country life; often includes weather; the pastoral life is seen as a place of plenty (stems from lack of food supply in urban areas); not dramatic or intended to push through a narrative (linear) * Pastorale - Where the notion of the pastoral comes from; an ancient style of play or poetry that glorified rural living; often involved good vs. evil; more modern pastorals minimized this conflict * Madrigal - 16th-17th c. European art song; secular; written for 2-8 voices; polyphonal; aimed to turn poetry into art music; pastoral tropes are highly influential (Claudio Monteverdi wrote a large number of madrigals - 8 books; usually rocks between two chords: the tonic and the subdominant) * Tremolo - Dat violin thing * Tympani - Percussion * Chromatic - Halfsteps/ semitones

Connection to the Fifth Symphony

* The sixth premiered before the fifth on the same night * Intended to be perceived as the opposite of the same pair * Fifth Symphony about progression and struggle; absolute music * Sixth Symphony about atmospheric lingering; program music; surrendering fate to the divine * The two symphonies contribute to Beethoven's struggle to understand ethical living; realizes that humans cannot achieve heroism alone - turns to a blend of spirituality and heroism * Symphony no. 5 depicts the inherent struggle of the heroic struggle * Symphony no. 6 is a celebration of the divine * Symphonies no. 7-9 are coming terms with the struggles of achieving heroism

Development of the Violin

* During the 16th and 17th centuries, the violin family begins to develop into the instruments that we know today * Has to do with geo-politics: Rivalries of Italian city-states * Progressive forward movement - concerto and opera * Violin becomes popular because it can mimic the human voice; becomes a direct way to translate the vocal intensity of opera into instrumental music * By the 18th century, the pastoral is firmly established within the musical culture of Europe

Pastoral - Avoids complex harmony and progressive harmonic motion; lacks the progressive imperative; aims for a sense of stasis; very atmospheric and concerns itself with experiencing the moment; mimicry of nature (Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons: Representations of nature with musical procedures); Beethoven does the same thing but through a different set of musical techniques Beethoven's Compositional Characteristics

* Steps away from the sonata-allegro procedure (which is goal-oriented) * Attempts to use this procedure in a way that is not progressive

First Movement: "Awakening of Cheerful Feelings Upon Arriving in the Country"Exposition

* Contains a ton of thematic material; includes seven different melodic entities * Because of these many melodies, Beethoven shows that this piece is not intended to be listened to in the way of typical sonata-allegro form - impossible to follow every single theme * Almost entirely avoids minor chords; interesting in that he often alternates major and minor chords * The emphasis on major sounds forces an uncomplicated affect onto the movement; ensures that the countryside is depicted as a pleasant place; forces listeners to avoid the notion of being pulled in one direction or another (avoids harmonic motion) * Oscillates between tonic chords and subdominant chords (the latter being a non-progressive chords that go nowhere) * Very repetitive, showing how the peasants are simple-minded folk

Development: Directionless Motion

* Has some change, but does not go anywhere * Lulls the listeners; nothing occurs that is exciting * Very cyclical * Frequently jumps from key to key, but there is no linearity; no effort at making a smooth transition * Retransition: "Warm Bath" - Long, but no buildup to the recapitulation; not driven anywhere; eases into the recapitulation, rather than pushing towards a goal

Recapitulation (See Exposition)

* Very straightforward; almost the same as the exposition * Meant to avoid the linear progression of sonata-allegro form

Second Movement: "Scene at the *Brook"Immersions

* Supposed to give the impression of a babbling brook * Lower strings convey the flow of water * Implies non-progressive motion (like a dance); repeated * Sounds ease into the brook without interrupting the continuity of its movement * Atmospheric style of listening; Beethoven shows us another manner of looking at music (contrasts with the other works of the heroic period)

Birdsong (Cadenza) Coda

* Nightingale (Flute) * Quail (Piccollo/High Flute)

* Cuckoo (Clarinet): Becomes a motive for the first movement of the fifth symphony (descending third)

*Brook in German = Bach (not a coincidence) Third Movement: "Happy Gathering of Countryfolk" (Scherzo and Trio)Barn Dance (Scherzo)

* Simple, carefree, and innocent * Lots of downward thirds (cuckoo) * Oboe cannot stay on the beat (drunkenness) * Clarinet falls apart at the end (amateur) * Horn player off beat (bumbling)

Trio

* "Hoedown section" * Solo dances (stomping and clunky); very rustic

Scherzo Trio Scherzo (partial) - Attacca

* Repeated trio shows cyclical movement and prevents progression; shows the simple life of peasants because of its repitition * Hitch - comes to a halt; a trip in the dance; the coming of the storm; attempt to break the cycle

Fourth Movement: "Thunderstorm; Storm" * The sublime and the divine - Beethoven turns away from the notion that the heroic process is the goal of life; searches for meaning in religion

Approaching Storm - Tremolo of strings suggest weather-based agitation Raging Storm - Chromatic lines/semitones cycling to sound; uneasy motive in the first violin; cellos, timpani, and basses represent thunder; downward slashing figures for lightning; downward flowing figures for rain Receding Storm - Attacca: Chaotic (like wind/tornado) Fifth Movement: "Shepherds' Song; Cheerful and Thankful Feelings After the Storm"Bach Quotation

* Transition references a Bach chorale (expanded harmonized chant of Lutheran liturgical music) - "Break Forth, O Morning Light" * Well-known to the Lutherans of Beethoven's time

Song of Thanksgiving

* "Amen" Cadences: Explicitly religious in response to the implied impulse of the fourth movement; cadence appears at the end of Protestant hymns; subdominant (IV) to tonic (I) inverted pastoral

Religioso

* Religious-like; lasts until the end of the movement; begins as a quiet prayer and gradually builds to a majestic climax

Cuckoo's Cadence

* Descending third occurs at the final cadence of the piece * Suggests the praise of nature along with the divine * Sets up the piece to transition to the fifth symphony