Ludwig Van Beethoven: symphony no. 6 - H.V.Karajan
photos: Germany, Hohenzollern and Neuschwanstein castle,Zugspitze, landscapes of Germany, Black Forest
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The Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the Pastoral Symphony (German Pastoral-Sinfonie), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, and completed in 1808. One of Beethoven's few works containing explicitly programmatic content, the symphony was first performed in the Theater an der Wien on 22 December 1808 in a four-hour concert.
Beethoven was a lover of nature who spent a great deal of his time on walks in the country. He frequently left Vienna to work in rural locations.

The first sketches of the Pastoral Symphony appeared in 1802. It was composed simultaneously with Beethoven's more famous—and more fiery—Fifth Symphony. Both symphonies were premiered in a long and under-rehearsed concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 22 December 1808.

The composer said that the Sixth Symphony is "more the expression of feeling than painting", a point underlined by the title of the first movement.
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for piccolo (fourth movement only), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F and B flat, 2 trumpets in C and E flat (third, fourth, and fifth movements only), 2 trombones (alto and tenor, fourth and fifth movements only), timpani (fourth movement only), and strings.
Form
The symphony has five movements, rather than the four typical of symphonies of the Classical era. Beethoven annotated the beginning of each movement as follows:

(Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside): Allegro ma non troppo
Scene by the brook: Andante molto mosso
Merry gathering of country folk: Allegro
Thunder Storm: Allegro
Shepherd's song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm: Allegretto
The third movement ends on an imperfect cadence that leads straight into the fourth; the fourth movement leads straight into the fifth without a pause. A performance of the work lasts about 40 minutes. Beethoven wrote a short descriptive note at the head of each movement.

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