Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, "Pastoral"

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 premiered in 1808 at the Theater an der Wien on the same day and in the same place as the Fifth. The two works came to life at the same time in the composer’s mind, and we find the first sketches of the Sixth alongside those of the Fifth and the “Eroica” Symphony in a notebook from 1803! The points of contact are numerous, notably in the theme of the storm in the fourth movement. This “Pastoral” Symphony describes Beethoven’s walk in the countryside and the feelings of peace and joy that follow. The enchanting character of Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony conveys to the listener a sense of communion with nature, and Berlioz, in his Critical Study of Beethoven’s Symphonies (1844) wrote about it: “The author undoubtedly created this admirable adagio [sic!] lying in the grass, eyes to the sky, ears to the wind, fascinated by a thousand and one reflections of sound and light, watching and listening at the same time to the small white waves, the spakling of the stream breaking with a light noise on the pebbles of the shore; it is delightful!”