Sunday, April 7, 2013

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral-Sinfonie"

Image via Wikipedia
Growing up, this was my favorite Beethoven, which meant my favorite classical music.  For some reason it makes me think of spring and puttering around in the garden.  No doubt Disney's "Fantasia" had a part of that.

The symphony reflects Germany's love of nature, which Beethoven felt in full.  Unusual for his works, it is a series of tone poems  telling a stor in each of the five movements: the listener arrives in the the country, the listener is by a brook, the country dance, a thunder storm, the storm's aftermath.

The piece took Beethoven two whole years to write, perhaps the longest of any of his works.  If you feel like me, you'll agree that it was worth the wait.

The symphony's importance was such that Walt Disney chose to include this in his groundbreaking film Fantasia, which appears here.




4 comments:

  1. libertymanApril 7, 2013 at 7:55 AM

    Amazing the animation was done the old fashioned way, and to have the imagination to tie it in so well with the music. An Impressive work by Beethoven and impressive by the animators and directors at Disney.

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  2. Old NFOApril 7, 2013 at 8:45 AM

    Impressive is right! I just wish I could hear better... sigh

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  3. BorepatchApril 7, 2013 at 9:29 AM

    libertyman, it sure is. I think that Fantasia is one of the 10 greatest films of all time.

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  4. ChickenmomApril 7, 2013 at 9:58 AM

    So thoroughly enjoyed this post - thank you!

    Phyllis (N/W Jersey)

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