Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”

Symphony No. 6 holds a special place among Beethoven’s symphonic works: it’s the only one with explicitly programmatic content. Beethoven even went so far as to give a title to each movement to guide the listener—something the composer rarely did, as he generally resisted programmatic music. It was the composer himself who gave it the nickname “Pastoral.” 

Beethoven wasn’t the first to write a piece inspired by nature. But, unlike other composers, he didn’t seek to imitate nature in a literal sense—for example, by reproducing bird calls or describing landscapes. “The ‘Pastoral’ is not a tone painting; it expresses, in particular nuances, the feelings someone may experience in the countryside,” he wrote in 1808. In fact, the manuscript sent to the publisher bore the title: “Pastoral Symphony,” or “Recollections of Country Life: More the Expression of Feeling than Tone-Painting.”  

Beethoven had a profound and sincere love of nature. He would spend his summers in rural villages around Vienna where he could go on long walks in the woods.   

“How happy I am to be able to wander among bushes and herbs, under trees and over rocks; no man can love the country as I love it. Woods, trees and rocks send back the echoes that man desires.” 

-Ludwig van Beethoven 

Beethoven worked on this symphony from 1805 to 1808, at the same time as Symphony No. 5. Yet, it is difficult to envision two works more fundamentally opposed: the fifth representing the individual’s struggle against fate, and the sixth celebrating humanity’s flourishing within nature. 

The “Pastoral” is the most peaceful and relaxed of Beethoven’s nine symphonies. This is due to a combination of elements like the absence of harmonic or rhythmic tension, slow and progressive key changes, the tireless repetition of the same rhythmic and melodic motifs and the use of a major key—except for the “Storm” movement.  

The “Pastoral” symphony is the only one of Beethoven’s nine symphonies with five movements, and the last three flow into one another without interruption. Beethoven arranged each movement differently. The piccolo and timpani are only featured during the storm; the trumpets appear starting in the third movement, and the trombones only play in the fourth and fifth movements. Everything was written to create a specific atmosphere.