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Album Information | Classics Explained: BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 6, 'Pastoral' (Siepmann) | Naxos Spoken Word Library
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Classics Explained: BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 6, 'Pastoral' (Siepmann)

Classics Explained: BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 6, 'Pastoral' (Siepmann)


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Category: Music Education
Catalogue No.: 8.558034-35
ISBN No.: 0636943803424
Total Playing Time: 02:33:00

Track Details

Disc 1
Siepmann, Jeremy - author(s)
Beethoven, Ludwig van
First Movement: Awakening of Cheerful Feelings on Arriving in the Country, 'Allegro ma non troppo' 00:51:46
1 On Beethoven's Openings 00:01:26
2 Opening phrase of the 'Pastoral': ood, Symbolism and Musical Function 00:01:44
3 Musical Acorns: the outline of melody; the shape of a question 00:00:42
4 The 'question' in the 'Pastoral' repeated... 00:00:04
5 ...and answered 00:00:12
6 The opening phrase ends on a note full of pregnant expectation 00:00:19
7 Starting with a stop 00:00:36
8 The rhythmic profile of the opening phrase; a two-part construction 00:00:52
9 Phrase One, Part One 00:00:09
10 Phrase One, Part Two 00:00:06
11 The properties of rhythmic ambiguity; the 'question' of Phrase One answered 00:01:03
12 Phrase Two: from meander to march 00:00:27
13 The makings of a conversation: contrast and variation 00:00:47
14 Repetition as a major factor, but it's never mere repetition; each time something new is added 00:00:33
15 From soft to loud and back again; instrumental enrichment from horns and double-basses 00:00:18
16 Mega-repetition: violins play exactly the same little fragment ten times in a row 00:00:29
17 But no two repetitions are quite the same; varieties of contrast 00:00:34
18 More variation: pitch rises; violins joined frist by the clarinet, then by the oboe 00:00:19
19 Return to opening idea, but with new instrumentation and articulation 00:00:25
20 Clarinets, horns, bassoons and flutes now join expansive variation 00:00:49
21 'New' insistent rhythm derived from the first four notes of the piece 00:00:09
22 With the dawn chorus, a whole forest is waking up; feelings of rapture 00:00:36
23 First violins play a derivative of the opening figure, joined by wind and strings 00:00:32
24 Sudden change of key, from the home key (tonic) to the dominant 00:00:30
25 Arrival at the hightly contrasting second main theme 00:00:55
26 Unusual properties of second main theme 00:02:15
27 Rhythmic clash between simultaneous groups of three beats and groups of two 00:01:09
28 winds fall selent as the violins and violas interrupt with a new theme 00:00:30
29 Winds answer with the same morse-like rhythm but at half the speed 00:00:51
30 Crescendo leads to strings' acceleration of the pace with no increase in tempo 00:01:05
31 Beginning of coda, directly based on morse-like rhythm of the main theme 00:00:22
32 Strings reiterate small fragment of the new theme 13 times in a row 00:00:48
33 A simple, rising violin phrase leads to a repeat of the Exposition 00:00:18
34 The nature and function of the Development section in sonata form; 'harmonic' rhythm explained 00:02:22
35 The nature of harmonic rhythm illustrated 00:00:35
36 A typically Beethovenian exercise in the frustration of expectation 00:00:38
37 Repetitiousness and magic effected largely through instrumental colour 00:00:42
38 Then come four, almost identical bars 00:00:08
39 Even greater magic, with sudden switch of key and tone colour 00:00:28
40 Entire Development section up to this point 00:01:55
41 The Development continued 00:01:23
42 Increased unease and suspense as harmonic rhythm accelerates 00:02:03
43 Arrival at the point of Recapitulation; back to the beginning, as a reminder 00:01:50
44 Beginning of Recapitulation 00:00:50
45 More Beethovenian frustrations of expectations which he himself has just set up 00:01:01
46 Harmonic rhythm speeds up, giving the impression of an accent on every beat 00:00:34
47 Prevailing mood restored; new theme from clarinets and bassoons 00:00:28
48 Violins and violas take up theme; horns, cellos, double-basses accompany 00:00:48
49 A hush falls, followed by a return of the movement's most familiar tag in strings 00:00:58
50 Clarinet takes up the running triplet figures of the main closing theme 00:00:32
51 First violins take up the opening phrase again, accompanied by double-basses 00:00:37
52 Beethoven slips in one last surprise; cue to complete movement 00:00:59
53 First movement (complete) 00:11:01
Siepmann, Jeremy - author(s)
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Second Movement, Scene by the Brook 00:38:09
54 General introduction; the birth of a melody 00:01:59
55 Brook music quickens; syncopated horns; theme changes hands; evocation of birdsong 00:01:19
56 The 'motto' theme introduced by violins and treated to round-like overlappings 00:00:52
57 Transitional 'bridge' theme sets off for new key group. But is it? And does it? 00:00:39
58 Will he, or won't he? Beethoven keeps us guessing 00:01:09
59 The run-up to the Second Group 00:01:14
60 Arrival at the Second Group; but where is the actual Second Subject? 00:00:39
61 A new tune is introduced by the bassoon 00:00:38
62 Tune is repeated three times 00:01:00
63 ...which the full orchestra now takes up in varied form 00:00:45
64 Theme carried by flutes and first violins in a charmingly waltz-like development 00:00:48
65 A reminder of precedent 00:00:14
66 Back to the prevailing triple-metre with violins, bassoons and flutes 00:00:16
67 Another reminder of precedent... 00:00:16
68 ...and a cue to some unexpected departures 00:00:38
69 The transformational magic of Beethoven's 'tone-painting' - and a new varation 00:00:50
70 Conversation of clarinet, flute and oboe on the way to the Development 00:00:43
71 Harmonic movement emphasised by violins; oboe takes up the First Subject 00:00:38
72 Flute and oboe discuss the First Subject, before arriving together at the Transition 00:01:04
73 Gains in volume and intensity lead to a new key-change 00:00:47
74 More thematic transformation through the agency of tone-colour 00:01:11
75 Harmonic fluideity - instability - as the central engine of the Development section 00:01:40
76 Harmonic instability, thematic dissolution increase, then lessen with approach of Recapitulation 00:01:41
77 Recap. and transformation: key and material are right, but what a change of presentation! 00:01:29
78 Just when we know what's coming, Beethoven changes the rules (or at least the harmony) 00:00:53
79 Transformation by reorchestration; switch to long sustained chords; then everything stops 00:01:20
80 The silence is broken by voices of nightingale (flute), quail (oboe) and cuckoo (clarinet) 00:00:40
81 First violins bring back motto theme 00:00:12
82 Cue to complete movement on CD 2 00:00:32

Disc 2
Siepmann, Jeremy - author(s)
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Second Movement, Scene by the Brook 00:38:09
1 Second movement (complete) 00:12:03
Siepmann, Jeremy - author(s)
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Thrid Movement, Merry Gathering of Country Folk 00:14:40
2 Beethoven and the Scherzo: an introduction; Part One of opening phrase taken by the strings 00:01:32
3 Immediate response; Part One is answered by a march more singing, continuous legato 00:00:23
4 Entire orchestra gives out opening theme, this time fortissimo and with powerful accents 00:01:06
5 A mustical ball game. The contrast of this and the first two movements could hardly be greater 00:00:33
6 After quietly teasing suspense, Beethoven mocks village band, first the oboe, then the bassoon 00:01:18
7 Clarinet joins in, then horn takes the tune - the dance no longer boisterous but lyrical 00:00:48
8 Strings sweep the village musicians aside and hurtle us into the new, boisterous 'Trio' section 00:00:46
9 The air is alive with the sound of (mock) bagpipes, tambourines and fifes 00:01:00
10 Coda; begins as the movement itself begins, but soon diverges in harmony and instrumentation 00:01:18
11 Original layout compressed; order of events is changed nd Beethoven springs a big surprise 00:00:42
12 Third movement (complete) 00:05:14
Siepmann, Jeremy - author(s)
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Fourth Movement, Thunderstorm 00:15:03
13 Unparalled portrait of nature's power over humanity, with some stupendous orchestration 00:03:05
14 Self-generating form and terror of total unpredictability; 'anxiety motif' from the violins 00:01:34
15 The 'lashing rain' motif - downward-driving arpeggios from the first violins and violas 00:00:36
16 The 'lightning' motif, and its recurrnece later in the movement 00:00:22
17 'Rain' motif, derived from descending scale pattern from the violins at the outest 00:00:13
18 Shivering tremolandos from the strings and increasingly eerie harmonies from the wind 00:00:18
19 Steady crescendo in strings; terrifying, downward spelling-out of chords in the violins 00:01:37
20 Extremes of dynamic contrasts; the unsettling, disturbing, undermining effects of chromaticism 00:01:02
21 Abandonment of melody, and most traces even of rhythm; sustained, discordant harmony 00:00:20
22 Storm dispersed, the sun reappears, bathing sodden earth below with its life-giving rays 00:01:52
23 Cue to complete preformance of Fourth Movement 00:00:09
24 Fourth movement (complete) 00:03:55
Siepmann, Jeremy - author(s)
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Fifth Movement, Shepherd's Song - Happy and Thankful Feelings After the Storm 00:33:22
25 'Yodelling' figure from clarinet, then horn, the violins, who introduce the main theme 00:00:59
26 Details of instrumental magic in the interplay of horns, cellos, clarinets and bassoons 00:01:06
27 Main theme heard three times in a row - and yet never the same way twice 00:01:06
28 Now we get the whole orchestra, playing full out, with violins all double-stopping 00:00:36
29 Transition to the next section, based on the last two notes of the main theme 00:00:43
30 The rhythmic basis of new transition theme, first in violas, then takes up by first violins 00:00:38
31 Another rhythmic details of extended transition comes increasingly into the foreground 00:00:29
32 ...and is then heard in expanded version, taken in sequence by the strings, from the top down 00:00:51
33 New phrase, introduced by violins, brings us resoundingly back to the opening material 00:01:13
34 Main theme, re-orchestrated; unexpected drift into another key and a new, gently flowing theme 00:02:15
35 Hints of a return to main theme; long 'pedal point'; running commentary from the violins 00:00:58
36 Main theme returns, but significantly altered, and not entirely intact 00:00:37
37 Running commentary now heard in the middle, with alternating pizzicatos both above and below 00:00:24
38 Part Three of main theme given to entire orchestra, leading to final appearance of Theme two 00:01:21
39 Extended coda; overlapping variations of main theme, rather in the manner of a round 00:02:09
40 Suddenly the scene changes. A variation of the 'running commentary' cited in Tracks 34 and 36 00:00:51
41 The crowning glory, as the Shepherd's Song of Thanksgiving takes on a 'heavenly' magnificence 00:02:10
42 Cue into complete performance of Fifth Movement through the 'gateway' of the Fourth 00:01:09
43 Fourth and Fifth movements (complete) 00:13:47