Pastoral

Beethoven's Sixth Symphony is a thoroughly optimistic symphony, written by a composer with a great love of nature. Beethoven was happiest when he could take long, lonely walks in the countryside: "Forests, trees and rocks create the echo that man longs to hear," he stated. In the Pastorale Symphony, Beethoven distills our love of nature and transforms it into music – and he does it so well that the landscape and wildlife take shape in the concer...