Симфония № 6 Бетховена, дирижирует Клаудио Аббадо

The feeling of nature or the Sixth Symphony

The piece was greeted with little enthusiasm on the evening of December 22, 1808 in Vienna, when the Symphony No. 6 in F Major also called the Pastoral Symphony, Op. 68 was premiered at the same time as the Fifth Symphony. The title Pastoral was given by the composer himself on the programme: Pastoral Symphony: "the expression of the feeling rather than a painting." The score later bore the inscription, "Pastoral Symphony or Memory of Life in the Country." The sound of gurgling water or of birdsong translates the feeling of nature rather than portraying nature itself. Even though one can only agree with Bruno Walter when he says that "a conductor who does not love nature, streams and birds cannot conduct The Pastoral Symphony." The Pastoral Symphony is to Beethoven what Le Lac is to Lamartine.