BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONY WORK
Beethoven's symphonies arose on the ground prepared by the entire course of development instrumental music 18th century, especially by his immediate predecessors – Haydn and Mozart. The sonata-symphonic cycle that finally took shape in their work, its reasonable, harmonious structures turned out to be a solid foundation for the massive architecture of Beethoven's symphonies.
Beethoven's musical thinking is a complex synthesis of the most serious and advanced, born of the philosophical and aesthetic thought of his time, with the highest manifestation of national genius, imprinted in the broad traditions of centuries-old culture. A lot of artistic images He was also prompted by reality - the revolutionary era (3, 5, 9 symphonies). Beethoven was especially concerned about the problem of “hero and people.” Beethoven's hero is inseparable from the people, and the problem of the hero develops into the problem of the individual and the people, man and humanity. It happens that a hero dies, but his death is crowned by victory, bringing happiness to liberated humanity. Along with the heroic theme, the theme of nature was richly reflected (4th, 6th symphony, 15th sonata, many slow movements of symphonies). In his understanding and perception of nature, Beethoven is close to the ideas of J.-J. Rousseau. Nature for him is not a formidable, incomprehensible force opposing man; it is the source of life, from contact with which a person becomes morally cleansed, gains the will to act, and looks more boldly into the future. Beethoven penetrates deeply into the subtlest sphere of human feelings. But, revealing the inner world, emotional life man, Beethoven paints the same hero, strong, proud, courageous, who never becomes a victim of his passions, since his struggle for personal happiness is guided by the same thought of the philosopher.
Each of the nine symphonies is an exceptional work, the fruit of long labor (for example, Beethoven worked on symphony No. 9 for 10 years).
symphonies
In the first symphony C-dur the features of the new Beethoven style appear very modestly. According to Berlioz, “this is excellent music... but... not yet Beethoven.” There is a noticeable movement forward in the second symphony D-dur . The confident and masculine tone, dynamics of development, and energy reveal Beethoven’s image much more clearly. But a real creative takeoff occurred in the Third Symphony. Since the Third Symphony, heroic theme inspires Beethoven to create the most outstanding symphonic works - the Fifth Symphony, overtures, then this theme is revived with the unattainable artistic perfection and scope in the Ninth Symphony. At the same time, Beethoven reveals other figurative spheres: the poetry of spring and youth in Symphony No. 4, the dynamics of the life of the Seventh.
In the Third Symphony, according to Becker, Beethoven embodied “only the typical, eternal... - willpower, the greatness of death, creative power - he combines together and from this creates his poem about everything great, heroic that can generally be inherent in a person” [Paul Becker. Beethoven, vol. II . Symphonies. M., 1915, p. 25.] The second part is the Funeral March, a musical heroic-epic picture of unsurpassed beauty.
The idea of heroic struggle in the Fifth Symphony is carried out even more consistently and directedly. Like an operatic leitmotif, the four-note main theme runs through all parts of the work, transforming as the action progresses and is perceived as a symbol of evil tragically invading a person’s life. There is a great contrast between the drama of the first part and the slow, thoughtful flow of thought in the second.
Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”, 1810
The word “pastoral” denotes the peaceful and carefree life of shepherds and shepherdesses among grass, flowers and fat herds. Since antiquity, pastoral paintings with their regularity and peace have been an unshakable ideal for the educated European and continued to be so in the time of Beethoven. “No one in this world can love the village as much as I do,” he admitted in his letters. - I can love a tree more than a person. Omnipotent! I am happy in the forests, I am happy in the forests where every tree speaks of you.”
The “Pastoral” Symphony is a landmark composition, reminding us that the real Beethoven is not a revolutionary fanatic, ready to give up everything human for the sake of struggle and victory, but a singer of freedom and happiness, in the heat of battle, not forgetting the goal for which sacrifices are made and feats are accomplished. For Beethoven, active-dramatic works and pastoral-idyllic ones are two sides, two faces of his Muse: action and reflection, struggle and contemplation constitute for him, as for any classic, an obligatory unity, symbolizing the balance and harmony of natural forces.
The “pastoral” symphony is subtitled “Memories of Rural Life.” Therefore, it is quite natural that in its first part there are echoes of village music: pipe tunes accompanying rural walks and dances of the villagers, lazily waddling bagpipe tunes. However, the hand of Beethoven, the inexorable logician, is visible here too. Both in the melodies themselves and in their continuation, similar features appear: recurrence, inertia and repetition dominate in the presentation of themes, in small and large phases of their development. Nothing will go away without being repeated several times; nothing will come to an unexpected or new result - everything will return to normal, join the lazy cycle of already familiar thoughts. Nothing will accept a plan imposed from the outside, but will follow the established inertia: every motive is free to grow unlimitedly or come to naught, dissolve, giving way to another similar motive.
Aren’t all natural processes so inertial and calmly measured, aren’t clouds floating in the sky uniformly and lazily, grasses swaying, streams and rivers babbling? Natural life, unlike the life of people, does not reveal a clear goal, and therefore it is devoid of tension. Here it is, life-stay, life free from desires and desires.
As a counterbalance to the prevailing tastes, Beethoven in his last creative years created works of exceptional depth and grandeur.
Although the Ninth Symphony is far from last piece Beethoven, it was she who was the composition that completed the ideological and artistic quest of the composer. The problems outlined in symphonies No. 3 and 5 here acquire a pan-human, universal character. The genre of the symphony itself has changed fundamentally. Beethoven introduces into instrumental music word. This discovery of Beethoven was used more than once by composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Beethoven subordinates the usual principle of contrast to the idea of continuous imaginative development, hence the non-standard alternation of movements: first there are two fast movements, where the drama of the symphony is concentrated, and the slow third movement prepares the finale - the result of the most complex processes.
The Ninth Symphony is one of the most outstanding works in world history. musical culture. By the greatness of the idea, by the breadth of the concept and powerful dynamics musical images The Ninth Symphony surpasses everything created by Beethoven himself.
+MINIBONUS
BEETHOVEN'S PIANO SONATAS.
The late sonatas are highly complex musical language, compositions. Beethoven largely deviates from the patterns of formation typical of a classical sonata; the attraction at that time to philosophical and contemplative images led to a fascination with polyphonic forms.
VOCAL CREATIVITY. "TO A DISTANT LOVED." (1816?)
The first in a series of works of the last creative period was the song cycle "KDV". Completely original in concept and composition, it was an early harbinger of romantic vocal cycles Schubert and Schumann.
Symphony is the most serious and responsible genre orchestral music. Like a novel or drama, a symphony has access to a range of the most diverse phenomena of life in all their complexity and diversity.
Beethoven's symphonies arose on the ground prepared by the entire development of instrumental music of the 18th century, especially by his immediate predecessors - Haydn and Mozart. The sonata-symphonic cycle that finally took shape in their work, its reasonable, harmonious structures turned out to be a solid foundation for the massive architecture of Beethoven's symphonies.
But Beethoven's symphony could become what it is only as a result of the interaction of many phenomena and their deep generalization. Opera played a major role in the development of the symphony. Operatic dramaturgy had a significant influence on the process of dramatizing the symphony - this was clearly already in the work of Mozart. With Beethoven, the symphony grows into a truly dramatic instrumental genre.
The principles of operatic dramaturgy, applied to the symphony, contributed to deepening the contrasts and enlarging the overall plan of the symphony; they dictated the need more consistency and patterns in relation to the parts of the cycle, their greater internal connection. Following the path paved by Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven created majestic tragedies and dramas in symphonic instrumental forms.
The artist is different historical era, he invades those areas of spiritual interests that his predecessors cautiously avoided and could only touch on indirectly.
The line between the symphonic art of Beethoven and the symphony of the 18th century is drawn primarily by theme, ideological content, the nature of musical images. Beethoven's symphony, addressed to huge human masses, needed monumental forms “in proportion to the number, the breath, the sight of the assembled thousands.” Indeed, Beethoven pushes the boundaries of his symphonies widely and freely. Thus, the Allegro of the Eroica is almost twice as large as the Allegro of Mozart’s largest symphony - “Jupiter”, and the gigantic dimensions of the Ninth are generally incommensurable with any of the previously written symphonic works.
The high awareness of the responsibility of the artist, the boldness of his plans and creative concepts can explain the fact that Beethoven did not dare to write symphonies until he was thirty. The same reasons apparently caused the slowness, severe ingenuity, and tension with which he handled each topic. Any symphonic work by Beethoven is the fruit of a long, sometimes many years of work: the Eroica was created over the course of a year and a half, Beethoven began the Fifth in 1805 and finished in 1808, and work on the Ninth Symphony lasted almost ten years. It should be added that most of the symphonies, from the Third to the Eighth, not to mention the Ninth, fall during the heyday and highest rise of Beethoven's creativity.
In the First Symphony in C major, the features of Beethoven's new style still appear very timidly and modestly. According to Berlioz, the First Symphony is “excellently written music, but it is not yet Beethoven.” There is a noticeable movement forward in the Second Symphony in D major, which appeared in 1802. The confidently masculine tone, the swiftness of the dynamics, and all its forward energy reveal much more clearly the face of the creator of future triumphal-heroic creations. “Everything in this symphony is noble, energetic, proud. Everything in this symphony breathes with joy, and even the warlike impulses of the first Allegro are completely devoid of any kind of fury,” writes G. Berlioz. But a genuine, albeit prepared, but always amazing creative takeoff occurred in the Third Symphony. Only here truly “for the first time all the immense, amazing power of the creative genius of Beethoven was revealed, who in his first two symphonies is still nothing more than a good follower of his predecessors - Haydn and Mozart.”
Having gone through the labyrinth of spiritual quests, Beethoven found his heroic-epic theme in the Third Symphony. For the first time in art, the passionate drama of the era, its shocks and catastrophes was refracted with such depth of generalizations. The man himself is shown, winning the right to freedom, love and joy.
Starting with the Third Symphony, the heroic theme inspires Beethoven to create the most outstanding symphonic works - the Fifth Symphony, the Egmont Overture, Coriolanus, Leonore No. 3. At the end of his life, this theme is revived with unattainable artistic perfection and scope in the Ninth Symphony.
But each time the twist on this central theme for Beethoven is different. If the Third Symphony approaches the epic in spirit ancient art, then the Fifth Symphony, with its laconicism and dynamic dramaturgy, is perceived as a rapidly developing drama.
At the same time, Beethoven raises other layers in symphonic music. The poetry of spring and youth, the joy of life, its eternal movement - this is how the complex appears poetic images Fourth Symphony in B major. The Sixth (Pastoral) Symphony is dedicated to the theme of nature. In the “incomprehensibly excellent,” according to Glinka, the Seventh Symphony in A major, life phenomena appear in generalized dance images; the dynamics of life, its miraculous beauty is hidden behind the bright sparkle of changing rhythmic figures, behind the unexpected turns of dance movements. Even the deepest sadness of the famous Allegretto is not able to extinguish the sparkle of the dance, to moderate the fiery temperament of the dance of the parts surrounding the Allegretto.
Next to the mighty frescoes of the Seventh is a subtle and graceful chamber painting of the Eighth Symphony in F major.
Ninth Symphony
The Ninth Symphony is one of the most outstanding creations in the history of world musical culture. In terms of the greatness of the idea and the depth of its aesthetic content, the breadth of its concept and the powerful dynamics of musical images, the Ninth Symphony surpasses everything created by Beethoven himself.
Although the Ninth Symphony is far from Beethoven’s last creation, it was the work that completed the composer’s long-term ideological and artistic quest. In it, Beethoven's ideas of democracy and heroic struggle found the highest expression, and in it the new principles of symphonic thinking were embodied with incomparable perfection.
In the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven poses a vitally important problem central to his work: man and existence, tyranny and the unity of all for the victory of justice and goodness. This problem was clearly defined in the Third and Fifth symphonies, but in the ninth it takes on a pan-human, universal character. Hence the scale of innovation, the grandeur of the composition and forms.
The ideological concept of the symphony led to a fundamental change in the genre of the symphony and its dramaturgy. Beethoven introduces the word, the sound of human voices, into the realm of purely instrumental music. This invention of Beethoven was used more than once by composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The organization of the symphonic cycle itself has also changed. Beethoven subordinates the usual principle of contrast (alternation of fast and slow parts) to the idea of continuous formation of development. First, two fast movements follow one after the other, where the most dramatic situations of the symphony are concentrated, and the slow movement, moved to third place, prepares - in lyrical and philosophical terms - the onset of the finale. Thus, everything moves towards the finale - the result of the most complex processes of life's struggle, the various stages and aspects of which are given in the previous parts.
In the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven solves the problem of thematic unification of the cycle in a new way. He deepens the intonational connections between the movements and, continuing what was found in the Third and Fifth Symphonies, goes even further along the path of musical concretization of the ideological concept, or, in other words, along the path to programmaticity. The finale repeats all the themes of the previous movements - a kind of musical explanation of the symphony's concept, followed by a verbal one.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) The work of a genius German composer Beethoven - greatest treasure world culture, an entire era in the history of music. It had a huge influence on the development of art in the 19th century. In the formation of Beethoven’s worldview as an artist, the decisive role was played by the ideas of French bourgeois revolution 1789. Brotherhood of man heroic feat in the name of freedom are the central themes of his work. Beethoven's music, strong-willed and indomitable in its depiction of struggle, courageous and restrained in its expression of suffering and sorrowful reflection, captivates with its optimism and high humanism. Beethoven intertwines heroic images with deep, concentrated lyricism and images of nature. His musical genius most fully manifested himself in the field of instrumental music - in nine symphonies, five piano and violin concertos, thirty-two piano sonatas, and string quartets.
Beethoven's works are characterized by large-scale forms, richness and sculptural relief of images, expressiveness and clarity of musical language, rich in strong-willed rhythms and heroic melodies
Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in the Rhine town of Bonn in the family of a court singer. The childhood of the future composer, spent in constant material need, was joyless and harsh. The boy was taught to play the violin, piano and organ. He made rapid progress and already from 1784 he served in the court chapel.
Since 1792, Beethoven settled in Vienna. He soon gained fame as a wonderful pianist and improviser. Beethoven's playing amazed his contemporaries with a powerful impulse, emotional strength. In the first decade of Beethoven's stay in the Austrian capital, two of his symphonies, six quartets, seventeen piano sonatas and other works. However, the composer, who was in the prime of his life, was struck by a serious illness - Beethoven began to lose his hearing. Only an unbending will and faith in his high calling as a musician-citizen helped him endure this blow of fate. In 1804, the Third (“Heroic”) Symphony was completed, which marked the beginning of a new, even more fruitful stage in the composer’s work. Following the “Eroica,” Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio” (1805), the Fourth Symphony (1806), a year later the “Coriolanus” overture, and in 1808 the famous Fifth and Sixth (“Pastoral”) symphonies were written. The same period includes music for Goethe's tragedy "Egmont", the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, a number of piano sonatas, among which stand out No. 21 ("Aurora") and No. 23 ("Appassionata") and many other remarkable works.
In subsequent years, Beethoven's creative productivity declined noticeably. He completely lost his hearing. The composer perceived with bitterness the political reaction that came after the Congress of Vienna (1815). Only in 1818 did he again turn to creativity. Beethoven's late works are marked by features of philosophical depth and the search for new forms and means of expression. At the same time, the pathos of heroic struggle did not fade away in the work of the great composer. On May 7, 1824, the grandiose Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time, unparalleled in its power of thought, breadth of concept, and perfection of execution. Its main idea is the unity of millions; The choral finale of this brilliant work based on the text of F. Schiller’s ode “To Joy” is dedicated to the glorification of freedom, the chanting of boundless joy and an all-encompassing feeling of brotherly love.
Last years Beethoven's life was overshadowed by severe hardships, illness and loneliness. He died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna.
Beethoven's contribution to world culture determined primarily by his symphonic works. He was the greatest symphonist, and it was in symphonic music that his worldview and basic artistic principles were most fully embodied.
Beethoven's path as a symphonist spanned almost a quarter of a century (1800 - 1824), but his influence spread throughout the entire 19th and even to a large extent into the 20th century. In the 19th century, every symphonic composer had to decide for himself whether he would continue one of the lines of Beethoven’s symphony or try to create something fundamentally different. One way or another, but without Beethoven the symphony music XIX century would be completely different.
Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies (10 remained in sketches). Compared to 104 by Haydn or 41 by Mozart, this is not much, but each of them is an event. The conditions under which they were composed and performed were radically different from those under Haydn and Mozart. For Beethoven, a symphony is, firstly, a purely social genre, performed mainly in large halls by an orchestra that was quite respectable by the standards of that time; and secondly, the genre is ideologically very significant, which does not allow writing such essays at once in series of 6 pieces. Therefore, Beethoven's symphonies, as a rule, are much larger than even Mozart's (except for the 1st and 8th) and are fundamentally individual in concept. Every symphony gives only decision– both figurative and dramatic.
True, the sequence of Beethoven's symphonies reveals some patterns that have long been noticed by musicians. Thus, odd-numbered symphonies are more explosive, heroic or dramatic (except for the 1st), and even-numbered symphonies are more “peaceful”, genre-based (mostly the 4th, 6th and 8th). This may be explained by the fact that Beethoven often conceived symphonies in pairs and even wrote them simultaneously or immediately after each other (5 and 6 even “swapped” numbers at the premiere; 7 and 8 followed in a row).
Chamber instrumental
In addition to string quartets, Beethoven left many other chamber instrumental works: a septet, three string quintets, six piano trios, ten violin sonatas, five cello sonatas. Among them, in addition to the Septet described above, a string quintet (C major op, 29, 1801) stands out. This relatively early work by Beethoven is distinguished by a subtlety and freedom of expression reminiscent of Schubert's style.
Large artistic value present violin and cello sonatas. All ten violin sonatas are essentially duets for piano and violin, so significant is the piano part in them. They all push the old boundaries chamber music. This is especially noticeable in the Ninth Sonata in a minor (op. 44, 1803), dedicated to the Parisian violinist Rudolf Kreutzer, on the original of which Beethoven wrote: “Sonata for piano and obligate violin, written in concert style - like a concert”. The same age as the “Eroic Symphony” and “Appassionata,” the “Kreutzer Sonata” is related to them both in ideological concept and in novelty expressive techniques, and in terms of symphonic development. Against the background of all Beethoven's sonata violin literature, it stands out for its drama, integrity of form and scale.
The Sixth Piano Trio in B major (Op. 97, 1811), which belongs to Beethoven’s most inspired works, gravitates towards the symphonic style. The images of deep reflection in the slow variation movement, the heightened contrasts between the movements, the tonal plan and the structure of the cycle anticipate the Ninth Symphony. Strict architectonics and purposeful thematic development are combined with a broad, flowing melody, saturated with diverse color shades.
Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, piccolo flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, strings.
History of creation
The birth of the Pastoral Symphony occurs during the central period of Beethoven's work. Almost simultaneously, three symphonies came out of his pen, completely different in character: in 1805 he began writing a heroic symphony in C minor, now known as No. 5, in mid-November of the following year he completed the lyrical Fourth, in B-flat major, and in 1807 he began composing the Pastoral. Completed at the same time as the C minor in 1808, it differs sharply from it. Beethoven, having come to terms with an incurable illness - deafness - here does not fight a hostile fate, but glorifies great power nature, the simple joys of life.
Like the C minor, the Pastoral Symphony is dedicated to Beethoven’s patron, the Viennese philanthropist Prince F. I. Lobkowitz and the Russian envoy in Vienna, Count A. K. Razumovsky. Both of them were first performed in a large “academy” (that is, a concert in which the works of only one author were performed by himself as a virtuoso instrumentalist or by an orchestra under his direction) on December 22, 1808 at the Vienna Theater. The first number of the program was “Symphony entitled “Memories of Rural Life”, F major, No. 5.” Only some time later she became Sixth. The concert, held in a cold hall where the audience sat in fur coats, was not a success. The orchestra was a mixed one, of a low level. Beethoven quarreled with the musicians at the rehearsal; conductor I. Seyfried worked with them, and the author only directed the premiere.
The pastoral symphony occupies a special place in his work. It is programmatic, and the only one of the nine has not only a general name, but also headings for each part. These parts are not four, as has long been established in the symphonic cycle, but five, which is connected specifically with the program: between the simple-minded village dance and the peaceful finale there is a dramatic picture of a thunderstorm.
Beethoven loved to spend the summer in quiet villages in the vicinity of Vienna, wandering through forests and meadows from dawn to dusk, rain or shine, and in this communication with nature the ideas for his compositions arose. “No person can love rural life as much as I do, for oak groves, trees, rocky mountains respond to the thoughts and experiences of man.” The pastoral, which, according to the composer himself, depicts the feelings born of contact with the natural world and rural life, became one of Beethoven's most romantic compositions. It is not without reason that many romantics saw her as a source of inspiration. This is evidenced by Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique, Schumann's Rhine Symphony, Mendelssohn's Scottish and Italian symphonies, the symphonic poem "Preludes" and many of Liszt's piano pieces.
Music
First part called by the composer “Joyful feelings upon arrival in the village.” The simple, repeatedly repeated main theme sounded by the violins is close to folk round dance melodies, and the accompaniment by violas and cellos is reminiscent of the hum of village bagpipes. Several side topics contrast little with the main one. The development is also idyllic, devoid of sharp contrasts. A long stay in one emotional state is diversified by colorful comparisons of tonalities, changes in orchestral timbres, increases and decreases in sonority, which anticipates the principles of development among the romantics.
Second part- “Scene by the Stream” is imbued with the same serene feelings. The melodious violin melody slowly unfolds against a murmuring background of other strings, which persists throughout the entire movement. Only at the very end does the stream fall silent and the roll call of birds becomes audible: the trill of a nightingale (flute), the cry of a quail (oboe), the cuckoo’s cuckoo (clarinet). Listening to this music, it is impossible to imagine that it was written by a deaf composer who has not heard birdsong for a long time!
The third part- “A cheerful gathering of villagers” - the most cheerful and carefree. It combines the sly simplicity of peasant dances, introduced into the symphony by Beethoven's teacher Haydn, and the sharp humor of Beethoven's typically scherzos. The initial section is based on the repeated juxtaposition of two themes - abrupt, with persistent stubborn repetitions, and lyrical melodious, but not without humor: the bassoon accompaniment sounds out of time, as if from inexperienced village musicians. The next theme, flexible and graceful, in the transparent timbre of the oboe accompanied by the violins, is also not without a comical touch, which is given to it by the syncopated rhythm and the sudden entry of the bassoon bass. In the faster trio, a rough chant with sharp accents is persistently repeated, in a very loud sound - as if the village musicians were playing with all their might, sparing no effort. In repeating the opening section, Beethoven breaks with classical tradition: instead of going through all the themes in full, there is only a brief reminder of the first two.
Fourth part- "Storm. Storm" - begins immediately, without interruption. It forms a sharp contrast to everything that preceded it and is the only dramatic episode of the symphony. Painting a majestic picture of the raging elements, the composer resorts to visual techniques, expanding the composition of the orchestra, including, as in the finale of the Fifth, the piccolo flute and trombones, which had not previously been used in symphonic music. The contrast is especially sharply emphasized by the fact that this part is not separated by a pause from the neighboring ones: starting suddenly, it also passes without a pause into the finale, where the mood of the first parts returns.
The final- “Shepherd's song. Joyful and grateful feelings after the storm.” The calm melody of the clarinet, answered by the horn, resembles the roll call of shepherd's horns against the background of bagpipes - they are imitated by the sustained sounds of violas and cellos. The roll call of instruments gradually fades into the distance - the last one to carry out the melody is the horn with a mute against the background of light passages of strings. This is how this unique Beethoven symphony ends in an unusual way.
A. Koenigsberg
Nature and the merging of man with it, a sense of peace of mind, simple joys inspired by the gracious charm of the natural world - these are the themes, the range of images of this work.
Among Beethoven's nine symphonies, the Sixth is the only programmatic one in the direct sense of the term, that is, it has a general name that outlines the direction of poetic thought; in addition, each of the parts of the symphonic cycle is entitled: the first part is “Joyful feelings upon arrival in the village”, the second is “Scene by the stream”, the third is “Merry gathering of villagers”, the fourth is “Thunderstorm” and the fifth is “Shepherd’s song” (“Joyful and grateful feelings after the storm”).
In his attitude to the problem " nature and man“Beethoven, as we have already mentioned, is close to the ideas of J.-J. Rousseau. He perceives nature lovingly, idyllically, reminiscent of Haydn, who glorified the idyll of nature and rural labor in the oratorio “The Seasons”.
At the same time, Beethoven also acts as an artist of modern times. This is reflected in the greater poetic spirituality of the images of nature, and in picturesqueness symphonies.
Keeping intact the basic pattern of cyclic forms - the contrast of compared parts - Beethoven forms the symphony as a series of relatively independent paintings that depict different phenomena and states of nature or genre-related scenes from rural life.
The programmatic and picturesque nature of the Pastoral Symphony was reflected in the features of its composition and musical language. This is the only time that Beethoven deviates from the four-part composition in his symphonic works.
The Sixth Symphony can be seen as a five-movement cycle; if we take into account that the last three parts go without interruption and in a sense continue one another, then only three parts are formed.
This “free” interpretation of the cycle, as well as the type of programming and the characteristic nature of the titles, anticipate future works by Berlioz, Liszt and other romantic composers. The very figurative structure, including new, more subtle psychological reactions caused by communication with nature, makes the Pastoral Symphony a harbinger of the romantic direction in music.
IN first part Beethoven himself emphasizes in the title of the symphony that this is not a description of a rural landscape, but feelings, called by him. This movement is devoid of illustrativeness and onomatopoeia, which are found in other parts of the symphony.
Using as main topic a folk song, Beethoven enhances its characteristicity with the originality of harmonization: the theme sounds against the background of a sustained fifth in the bass (a typical interval of folk instruments):
The violins freely and easily “bring out” the spreading pattern of the melody of the side part; “It’s important” is echoed by the bass. The contrapuntal development seems to fill the theme with ever new juices:
Serene peace and transparency of the air are felt in the theme of the final part with its naively ingenuous instrumental strumming (a new version of the primary chant) and the roll call against the backdrop of the fading rustling of the bass, based on the tonic organ sound of C-dur (the tonality of the secondary and final parts):
The development, especially its first section, is interesting due to the novelty of development methods. Taken as an object for development, the characteristic chant of the main part is repeated many times without any changes, but it is colored by the play of registers, instrumental timbres, and the movement of keys through thirds: B-dur - D-dur, G-dur - E-dur.
Techniques of this kind of colorful comparisons of tones, which would become widespread among the romantics, are aimed at evoking a certain mood, a feeling of a given landscape, scenery, picture of nature.
But in second part, in "Scene by the Stream", as well as in fourth- “The Thunderstorm” - an abundance of figurative and onomatopoeic techniques. In the second part, short trills, grace notes, small and longer melodic turns are woven into the fabric of the accompaniment, conveying the calm flow of the stream. The soft colors of the entire sound palette paint an idyllic picture of nature, its tremulous calls, the slightest fluttering, the whisper of leaves, etc. Beethoven completes the entire “scene” with a witty depiction of the colorful hubbub of birds:
The next three parts, connected into one series, are scenes of peasant life.
The third part symphonies - “A Merry Gathering of Peasants” - a juicy and lively genre sketch. There is a lot of humor and sincere fun in it. Great charm is given to it by subtly noticed and sharply reproduced details, such as a bassoonist from a simple village orchestra entering out of place or a deliberate imitation of a heavy peasant dance:
A simple village celebration is suddenly interrupted by a thunderstorm. Musical image thunderstorms - raging elements - are often found in a variety of musical genres XVIII and XIX centuries. Beethoven's interpretation of this phenomenon is closest to Haydn's: a thunderstorm is not a disaster, not devastation, but grace, it fills the earth and air with moisture and is necessary for the growth of all living things.
Nevertheless, the image of a thunderstorm in the Sixth Symphony is an exception among works of this kind. It amazes with its true spontaneity, the limitless power of reproducing the phenomenon itself. Although Beethoven uses characteristic onomatopoeic techniques, the main thing here is dramatic power.
the last part- “Shepherd’s Song” is a logical conclusion to the symphony that follows from the whole concept. In it, Beethoven glorifies the life-giving beauty of nature. The most significant thing that the ear notices in the last part of the symphony is its songfulness, the national character of the music itself. The slowly flowing pastoral melody that dominates throughout is saturated with the finest poetry, which spiritualizes the entire sound of this unusual finale:
The sixth, Pastoral Symphony (F-dur, op. 68, 1808) occupies a special place in Beethoven’s work. It was from this symphony that representatives of the romantic movement largely took their starting point. program symphony. Berlioz was an enthusiastic fan of the Sixth Symphony.
The theme of nature receives wide philosophical embodiment in the music of Beethoven, one of the greatest poets of nature. In the Sixth Symphony, these images acquired their most complete expression, for the very theme of the symphony is nature and pictures of rural life. Nature for Beethoven is not only an object to create picturesque paintings. She was for him an expression of a comprehensive, life-giving principle. It was in communion with nature that Beethoven found those hours of pure joy that he so craved. Statements from Beethoven's diaries and letters speak of his enthusiastic pantheistic attitude towards nature (see pp. II31-133). More than once we come across statements in Beethoven’s notes that his ideal is “free,” that is, natural nature.
The theme of nature in Beethoven's work is connected with another theme in which he expresses himself as a follower of Rousseau - this is the poetry of simple, natural life in communion with nature, spiritual purity peasant In the notes to the Pastoral sketches, Beethoven refers several times to “memories of life in the countryside” as main motive content of the symphony. This idea was preserved in the full title of the symphony on title page manuscripts (see below).
The Rousseauist idea of the Pastoral Symphony connects Beethoven with Haydn (oratorio “The Seasons”). But in Beethoven the touch of patriarchy that is observed in Haydn disappears. He interprets the theme of nature and rural life as one of the variants of his main theme about the “free man.” This makes him similar to the “sturmers,” who, following Rousseau, saw a liberating principle in nature and contrasted it with the world of violence and coercion.
In the Pastoral Symphony, Beethoven turned to a plot that was encountered more than once in music. Among the programmatic works of the past, many are devoted to images of nature. But Beethoven solves the principle of programming in music in a new way. From naive illustrativeness he moves on to a poetic, spiritual embodiment of nature. Beethoven expressed his view of programming with the words: “More an expression of feeling than painting.” The author gave such advance notice and program in the manuscript of the symphony.
However, one should not think that Beethoven abandoned the pictorial, visual possibilities of musical language here. Beethoven's Sixth Symphony is an example of the fusion of expressive and pictorial principles. Her images are deep in mood, poetic, inspired by a great inner feeling, imbued with a generalizing philosophical thought and at the same time picturesque.
The thematic nature of the symphony is characteristic. Beethoven turns here to folk melodies (although he very rarely quoted original folk melodies): in the Sixth Symphony, researchers find Slavic folk origins. In particular, B. Bartok, a great expert folk music various countries, writes that the main part of the first part of the Pastoral is a Croatian children's song. Other researchers (Becker, Schönewolf) also point to a Croatian melody from D. K. Kuhach’s collection “Songs southern Slavs", which was the prototype of the main part of the I part of the Pastoral:
The appearance of the Pastoral Symphony is characterized by a wide implementation of genres of folk music - landler (extreme sections of the scherzo), song (in the finale). The song origins are also visible in the scherzo trio - Nottebohm cites Beethoven's sketch of the song “The Happiness of Friendship” (“Glück der Freundschaft, op. 88”), which was later used in the symphony:
The picturesque thematic quality of the Sixth Symphony is manifested in the wide use of ornamental elements - gruppetto various types, .figurations, long grace notes, arpeggios; This type of melody, along with folk song, is the basis of the thematic theme of the Sixth Symphony. This is especially noticeable in the slow part. Its main part grows out of the gruppetto (Beethoven said that he captured the melody of an oriole here).
Attention to the coloristic side is clearly manifested in the harmonic language of the symphony. The tertian comparisons of keys in the development sections are noteworthy. They are playing big role both in the development of the first movement (B-dur - D-dur; G-dur - E-dur), and in the development of the Andante (“Scene by the Stream”), which is colorful ornamental variations on the theme of the main part. There is a lot of bright picturesqueness in the music of movements III, IV and V. Thus, not a single part goes beyond the plan of the programmatic picture music, while maintaining the full depth of the poetic idea of the symphony.
The orchestra of the Sixth Symphony is distinguished by an abundance of solo wind instruments (clarinet, flute, horn). In the “Scene by the Stream” (Andante), Beethoven uses the richness of timbres in a new way string instruments. He uses divisi and mutes in the cello part, reproducing the “murmur of a brook” (author's note in the manuscript). Such techniques of orchestral writing are characteristic of later times. In connection with them, we can talk about Beethoven's anticipation of the features of a romantic orchestra.
The dramaturgy of the symphony as a whole is very different from the dramaturgy of the heroic symphonies. In sonata forms (I, II, V movements) the contrasts and boundaries between sections are smoothed out. “There are no conflicts or struggles here. Smooth transitions from one thought to another are characteristic. This is especially clearly expressed in Part II: the secondary part continues the main one, entering against the same background against which the main part sounded:
Becker writes in this regard about the technique of “stringing melodies.” The abundance of thematic elements and the dominance of the melodic principle are indeed the most characteristic features of the style of the Pastoral Symphony.
The indicated features of the Sixth Symphony are also manifested in the method of developing themes - the leading role belongs to variation. In Part II and the finale, Beethoven introduces variation sections into sonata form(development in “Scene by the Stream”, main role in the finale). This combination of sonata and variation will become one of the fundamental principles in Schubert's lyric symphonism.
The logic of the cycle of the Pastoral Symphony, while possessing typical classical contrasts, is determined, however, by the program (hence its five-part structure and the absence of caesuras between movements III, IV and V). Its cycle is not characterized by such effective and consistent development as in heroic symphonies, where the first part is the focus of the conflict, and the finale is its resolution. In the sequence of parts, factors of the program-picture order play a large role, although they are subordinated to the generalized idea of the unity of man with nature.