Beethoven 6

Beethoven no 6

Harmony:

• Uses traditional and ‘countryside simplicity’ in its harmony and tonality. For example, movement 1 uses V and I pedals, imitating drones, to evoke a folk style in the first theme.
• In contrast, the 3rd movement ends most abruptly on a C major (V) chord, to be followed by a pp Db in low strings (forming an interrupted cadence) for the start of the 4th movement - ‘The Storm’ - harmony becomes a lot more chromatic

Mannheim influences/Commissioned Works:

• Larger orchestra and much more emphasis on wind instruments and percussion, such as in the second movements when specific wind instruments are instructed to imitate songbirds, programmatic elements through use of instruments and similar to the Mannheim birdie
• Arguably the first composer to write symphonic programme music
• Only ever worked on commission, he didn’t work for just one person/court
• Beethoven challenged orchestral players in the way he wrote this piece, especially during ‘the Storm’ movement where the cellos and basses were playing 5 against 4s (again highlighting the independence these parts now have)

Development of movement conventions:

• 5 Movements, each movement has their own subtitle:
  • Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside
  • Scene by the brook
  • Merry gathering of the country people
  • The storm
  • Happy, grateful feelings after the storm
• The slow movement is also in sonata form, a siciliana (linked with peasant dances) and it is in 12/8. We can see the growing importance of wind instruments, as Beethoven uses the bassoon to play the 3rd theme (a non-solo instrument of this time)Instruments represent certain birds, Flute represent Nightingales, Clarinets represent Cuckoos and Oboes represent Quails
• Replaces minuet with the more playful scherzo, much more demanding than the minuet
• 4th movement has no structure (Symphonic Poem)Cellos and basses play 5s against 4s (quintuplets against semiquavers), very unusual

Extra-musical influences:

• ‘Pastoral’ - to do with the countryside
• Countryside feel to the whole piece
• Programme music that has a storyline to it-Influenced by external factors such as nature and animals
• Made for entertainment
• Very diatonic- The repetition of the short motif which comes back fairly unchanged helps invoke this sense of countryside
• Harmony is very simple - first 50 or so bars in the first movement is pretty much all based around chords 5 and 1
• ‘The Storm’ Movement highly contrasting to the first (more chromatic, blurred phrasing, unstable rhythms (5 against 4s in cellos & basses)