Pastoral Symphony Analysis

Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op.68, also known as the Pastoral Symphony was composed by Beethoven in 1808. Beethoven’s inspiration for this symphony came from his love for nature. The Pastoral Symphony is the only one of Beethoven’s symphonies that has five movements, the rest have four movements. Beethoven’s orchestra differed from that of earlier ensembles because he expanded his orchestras to include trombones, piccolos, and contrabassoons, although none of those three instruments appear in the first movement of the Pastoral Symphony (Yudkin, 2013).

The first movement of the Pastoral Symphony is in sonata form and is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings. It has a tempo of “Allegro ma non troppo” which

is Italian for “fast but not too much” (yourdictionary.com). Symphony No.6 was one of the first works that contained programmatic content, which provided a descriptive note for each movement. The first movement’s description is “Awakening of cheerful feeling upon arriving in the country”. The first movement starts off gentle and light, and then the music crescendos and we get a cheerful feeling throughout the movement. (classiccat.net)

Some characteristics of Beethoven’s music that made him extraordinary were; his symphonies were longer than other symphonies of the classical period, he used an expanded orchestra, his music was louder and deeper than that of his predecessors, and it featured themes of beauty and lyricism. Beethoven’s expansion of the orchestra allowed him to increase the power and range of his music. Another of Beethoven’s characteristics was linking movements together, usually the final two, this gave a feeling of unity in the symphony. All these characteristics were new to symphonic music at the time and had major impact on history of music, which is why Beethoven is considered one of the greatest composers ever (Yudkin, 2013).