NBC Symphony Orchestra
Arturo Toscanini (conductor)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Hermann Scherchen (conductor)
1. The awakening of happy feelings on arriving in the country
Allegro ma non troppo
2. By the brook
Andante molto moto
3. The joyful gathering of country folk
Allegro
4. Thunderstorm
Allegro
5. Shepherds' thanksgiving after the storm
Allegretto
Beethoven remarked that his Pastoral Symphony was 'more an expression of feeling than painting', a composition reflecting the joys and the power of nature rather than an attempt to create a musical picture-postcard. He frequently drew inspiration from the sketches he noted down during the course of his long country walks. This symphony can therefore be regarded as the perfect amalgam of subjective feeling with objective skill; or, in other words, of inspiration and technique.
In symphonic terms the work is as carefully constructed as any of Beethoven's major compositions, even though the inspiration behind its structure is far from abstract. For the incorporation of storm, bird-calls and country dance was achieved without compromising the essential characteristics of the classical style. Although there are five movements, the last three are played without pauses, while the fourth really forms an introduction to the finale.
The mood set by the opening phrase dominates the whole of the first movement. This initial idea is at once flexible and expansive, and all the themes that follow represent new aspects of its character. There is none of the tense drama of the Fifth Symphony here. Beethoven makes insistent use of repetitive figures, employing subtle changes of melodic and rhythmic emphasis, while maintaining a clear unity of expression. For example, the triplet figure first heard as a mere detail within the texture builds increasingly in importance until it forms the main material of the principal climax. The quiet ending, a bold and imaginative stroke in 1808, further confirms Beethoven's imaginative response to his chosen context.
The second movement, By the brook , is a full sonata structure, though without the dramatic element of tonal conflict. Muted cellos present the image of the softly-flowing stream, as the gentle ornamentations form into a sustained melody, and there is a new theme whose F major tonality makes for a subtle link to the previous movement. These ideas all feature in the development, and when they return towards their original form they soon move through to a richly-textured climax. The coda is undeniably descriptive: a series of woodwind cadenzas which are labelled in the score as 'cuckoo' , 'nightingale' and 'quail' .
The third movement has the dance characteristics of a scherzo but without the structural regularity. The music abounds in wit, treating the imagery of the country band and the peasant's merrymaking, though the sophisticated orchestration avoids mere roughness. The opening phrase is a case in point: a single line harmonically supported then solo entries which each make their mark. The trio, with its rustic drone accompaniment, has a particularly distinctive oboe melody, as well as some imaginative contributions from the bassoons. Then when the initial material returns, its progress is halted by the ominous rumbles of the approaching storm.
The rumbling soon unleashes a veritable fury, with winds and timpani to the fore. The climax brings the symphony's first contribution from the trombones, before the intensity relaxes and the storm subsides over a long pedal on the open C string of the cellos. An oboe phrase of radiant beauty and a rising flute scale herald the finale, as clarinet and then horn play fragments of the theme of the Shepherds' thanksgiving . Soon this wonderful tune is released in its full glory. There are various subsidiary ideas, but these serve to enhance the mood rather than to contradict it. Finally, a muted horn offers the phrase with which the movement had begun, and two full chords bring the symphony to its close.Ìý
Terry Barfoot
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