Classics Explained - An Introduction to Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral"

Jeremy Siepmann, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia & Bela Drahos

2002-07-05 • Classical

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Tracklist

1
On Beethoven's Openings
1:26
2
Opening Phrase of the "Pastoral": Mood, Symbolism and Musical Function
1:45
3
Musical Acorns: The Outline of Melody; The Shape of a Question
0:43
4
The "Question" in the "Pastoral" Repeated...
0:05
5
...And Answered
0:12
6
The Opening Phrase Ends on a Note Full of Pregnant Expectation
0:20
7
Starting With a Stop
0:37
8
The Rhythmic Profile of the Opening Phrase; A Two-Part Construction
0:53
9
Phrase One, Part One
0:09
10
Phrase One, Part Two
0:06
11
The Properties of Rhythmic Ambiguity; The "Question" of Phrase One Answered
1:04
12
Phrase Two: From Meander to March
0:27
13
The Makings of a Conversation: Contrast and Variation
0:48
14
Repetition as a Major Factor, but It's Never Mere Repetition; Each Time Something New Is Added
0:34
15
From Soft to Loud and Back Again; Instrumental Enrichment from Horns and Double-Basses
0:19
16
Mega-Repetition: Violins Play Exactly the Same Little Fragment Ten Times in a Row
0:30
17
But No Two Repetitions Are Quite the Same; Variaties of Contrast
0:35
18
More Variation; Pitch Rises; Violins Joined First by the Clarinet, Then by the Oboe
0:19
19
Return to Opening Idea, but with New Instrumentation and Articulation
0:25
20
Clarinets, Horns, Bassoons and Flutes Now Join Expansive Variation
0:49
21
"New" Insistent Rhythm Derived from the First Four Notes of the Piece
0:09
22
With the Dawn Chorus, a Whole Forest Is Waking Up; Feelings of Rapture
0:36
23
First Violins Play a Derivative of the Opening Figure, Joined by Winds and Strings
0:32
24
Sudden Change of Key, from the Home Key (Tonic) to the Dominant
0:31
25
Arrival at the Highly Contrasting Second Main Theme
0:56
26
Unusual Properties of Second Main Theme
2:16
27
Rhythmic Clash Between Simultaneous Groups of Three Beats and Groups of Two
1:09
28
Winds Fall Silent as the Violins and Violas Interrupt with a New Theme
0:30
29
Winds Answer with the Same Morse-Like Rhythm, but at Half the Speed
0:51
30
Crescendo Leads To Strings' Acceleration of the Pace with No Increase in Tempo
1:05
31
Beginning of Coda, Directly Based on Morse-Like Rhythm of the Main Theme
0:23
32
Strings Reiterate Small Fragment of the New Theme 13 Times in a Row
0:48
33
A Simple, Rising Violin Phrase Leads to a Repeat of the Exposition
0:18
34
The Nature and Function of the Development Section in Sonata Form; "Harmonic Rhythm" Explained
2:22
35
The Nature of Harmonic Rhythm Illustrated
0:35
36
A Typically Beethovenian Exercise in the Frustration of Expectation
0:38
37
Repetitiousness and Magic Effected Largely through Instrumental Colour
0:43
38
Then Come Four, Almost Identical Bars
0:08
39
Even Greater Magic, with Sudden Switch of Key and Tone Colour
0:29
40
Entire Development Section up to This Point
1:55
41
The Development, Continued
1:23
42
Increased Unease and Suspense as Harmonic Rhythm Accelerates
2:04
43
Arrival at the Point of Recapitualtion; Back to the Beginning, as a Reminder
1:50
44
Beginning of Recapitulation
0:51
45
More Beethovenian Frustrations of Expectations Which He Himself Has Just Set Up
1:01
46
Harmonic Rhythm Speeds Up, Giving the Impression of an Accent on Every Beat
0:34
47
Prevailing Mood Restored; New Theme from Clarinets and Bassoons
0:29
48
Violins and Violas Take Up Theme; Horns, Cellos, Double-Basses Accompany
0:48
49
A Hush Falls, Followed by a Return of the Movement's Most Familiar Tag in Strings
0:58
50
Clarinet Takes Up the Running Triplet Figures of the Main Closing Theme
0:32
51
First Violins Take Up the Opening Phrase Again, Accompanied by Double-Basses
0:38
52
Beethoven Slips In One Last Surprise; Cue to Complete Movement
0:59
53
First Movement (Complete)
11:01
54
General Introduction; The Birth of a Melody
1:60
55
Brook Music Quickens; Syncopated Horns; Themes Change Hands; Evocation of Birdsong
1:20
56
The "Mottl" Theme Introduced by Violins and Treated to Round-Like Overlappings
0:52
57
Transitional "Bridge" Theme Sets Off for New Key Group. But Is It? And Does It?
0:40
58
Will He, Or Won't He? Beethoven Keeps Us Guessing
1:10
59
The Run-Up to the Second Group
1:15
60
Arrival at the Second Group; But Where Is the Actual Second Subject?
0:39
61
A New Tune Is Introduced by the Bassoon
0:39
62
Tune Is Repeated Three Times
1:01
63
...Which the Full Orchestra Now Takes Up in Varied Form
0:45
64
Theme Carried by Flutes and First Violins in a Charmingly Waltz-Like Development
0:48
65
A Reminder of Precedent
0:15
66
Back to the Prevailing Triple-Metre with Violins, Bassoons and Flutes
0:16
67
Another Reminder of Precedent...
0:17
68
...And a Cue To Some Unexpected Departures
0:38
69
The Transformational Magic of Beethoven's Tone-Painting - And a New Variation
0:51
70
Conversation of Clarinet, Flute and Oboe on the Way to the Development
0:44
71
Harmonic Movement Emphasised By Violins; Oboe Takes Up the First Subject
0:39
72
Flute and Oboe Discuss the First Subject, Before Arriving Together at the Transistion
1:05
73
Gains in Volume and Intensity Lead to a New Key-Change
0:47
74
More Thematic Transformation Through the Agency of Tone-Colour
1:11
75
Harmonic Fluidity - Instability - As the Central Engine of the Development Section
1:40
76
Harmonic Instability, Thematic Dissolution Increase, Then Lessen with Approach of Recapitulation
1:42
77
Recap. and Transformation: Key and Material Are Right, but What a Change of Presentation!
1:30
78
Just When We Know What's Coming, Beethoven Changes the Rules (Or At Least the Harmony)
0:53
79
Transformation by Reorchestration; Switch to Long Sustained Chords; Then Everything Stops
1:20
80
The Silence Is Broken by Voices of Nightingale (Flute), Quail (Oboe), and Cuckoo (Clarinet)
0:40
81
First Violins Bring Back Motto Theme
0:12
82
Cue to Complete Movement on CD 2
0:33
1
Second Movement (Complete)
12:04
2
Beethoven and The Scherzo: An Introduction; Part One of Opening Phrase Taken by the Strings
1:32
3
Immediate Response: Part One Is Answered by a Much More Singing, Continous Legato
0:23
4
Entire Orchestra Gives Out Opening Theme, This Time Fortissimo and with Powerful Accents
1:06
5
A Musical Ball Game. The Contrast of This and the First Two Movements Could Hardly Be Greater
0:33
6
After Quietly Teasing Suspense, Beethoven Mocks Village Band, First the Oboe, Then the Bassoon
1:19
7
Clarinet Joins In, Then Horn Takes the Tune - The Dance No Longer Boisterous But Lyrical
0:48
8
Strings Sweep the Village Musicians Aside and Hurtle Us into the New, Boisterous "Trio" Section
0:47
9
The Air Is Alive with the Sound of (Mock) Bagpipes, Tambourines and Fifes
1:00
10
Coda; Begins as the Movement Itself Begins, but Soon Diverges in Harmony and Instrumentation
1:18
11
Original Layout Compressed; Order of Events Is Changed and Beethoven Springs a Big Surprise
0:42
12
Third Movement (Complete)
5:14
13
Unparalleled Portrait of Nature's Power over Humanity, with Some Stupendous Orchestration
3:05
14
Self-Generating Form and Terror of Total Unpredictability; "Anxiety Motif" from the Violins
1:34
15
The "Lashing Rain" Motif - Downward-Driving Arpeggios from the First Violins and Violas
0:36
16
The "Lightning" Motif, And Its Recurrence Later in the Movement
0:22
17
"Rain" Motif, Derived from Descending Scale Pattern from the Violins at the Outset
0:13
18
Shivering Tremolandos from the Strings and Increasingly Eerie Harmonies from the Wind
0:19
19
Steady Crescendo in Strings; Terrifying, Downward Spelling-Out of Chords in the Violins
1:37
20
Extremes of Dynamic Contrasts; The Unsettling, Disturbing, Undermining Effects of Chromaticism
1:03
21
Abandonment of Melody, and Most Traces Even of Rhythm; Sustained, Discordant Harmony
0:21
22
Storm Dispersed, the Sun Reappears, Bathing Sodden Earth Below with Its Life-Giving Rays
1:52
23
Cue Tto Complete Performance of Fourth Movement
0:10
24
Fourth Movement (Complete)
3:56
25
"Yodelling" Figure from Clarinet, Then Horn, Then Violins, Who Introduce the Main Theme
0:60
26
Details of Instrumental Magic in the Interplay of Horns, Cellos, Clarinets and Bassoons
1:06
27
Main Theme Heard Three Times in a Row
1:06
28
Now We Get the Whole Orchestra, Playing Full Out, with Violins All Double-Stopping
0:37
29
Transition to the Next Section, Based on the Last Two Notes of the Main Theme
0:43
30
The Rhythmic Basis of New Transition Theme, First in Violas, Then Taken Up by First Violins
0:38
31
Another Rhythmic Detail of Extended Transition Comes Increasingly into the Foreground
0:29
32
...And Is Then Heard in Expanded Version, Taken in Sequence by the Strings, from the Top Down
0:52
33
New Phrase, Introduced by Violins, Brings Us Resoundingly Back to the Opening Material
1:13
34
Main Theme, Re-Orchestrated; Unexpected Drift into Another Key and a New, Gently Flowing Theme
2:16
35
Hints of a Return To Main Theme; Long "Pedal Point"; Running Commentary from the Violins
0:58
36
Main Theme Returns, but Significantly Altered, and Not Entirely Intact
0:38
37
Running Commentary Now Heard in the Middle, with Alternating Pizzicatos Both above and Below
0:24
38
Part Three of Main Theme Given to the Entire Orchestra, Leading to Final Appearance of Theme Two
1:21
39
Extended Coda; Overlapping Variations of Main Theme, Rather in the Manner of a Round
2:09
40
Suddenly the Scene Changes. A Variation of the Running Commentary Cited in Tracks 34 and 36
0:52
41
The Crowning Glory, as the Shepherd's Song of Thanksgiving Takes On a "Heavenly" Magnificence
2:11
42
Cue into Complete Performance of Fifth Movement through the "Gateway" of the Fourth
1:10
43
Fourth and Fifth Movements (Complete)
13:47

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