Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony as a "Sinfonia caracteristica"

Author(s): F. E. Kirby
Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 4, Special Issue Celebrating the Bicentennial of the
Birth of Beethoven (Oct., 1970), pp. 605-623
Published by: Oxford University Press
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BEETHOVEN'S

PASTORAL SYMPHONY

AS A SINFONIA CARACTERISTICA
By F. E. KIRBY
HE problem of formalorganizationin large-scalemultimovement

- and indeedof all such

instrumental
of Beethoven
compositions

worksof the Classic period,forthatmatter- continuesto be perplexing.

There seem to be two importantaspects to the question: the firstconcernsthe matterof unity,of formalcoherencein the constitution
of such
while
the
to
do
with
of
second
has
the
compositions,
question expression,
with the characterand, in a way, the artist'spurpose or intentionin the
work. Ordinarilyscholars have dealt with these two aspects separately,
with the firstgettingmostof the attention,as is clear, for instance,from
Ludwig Misch's admirable attemptto formulatea systematicbasis for
of this kind.' Yet thereare cases in which it is possibleto
investigations
take the two aspects in combination,and the Pastoral Symphonyprovides a good opportunity
to do this.
That Beethovenhad specificexpressiveintentionsof some sort with
each of his major instrumental
worksseems clear enough. We have the
firsthandreportsof both FerdinandRies and Carl Czerny,both of whom
were at one time or another in close associationwith Beethoven.Ries
maintainsthat Beethoven,in composing,always had a "definiteobject" 2
in mind, while Czerny states that Beethoven'scompositionsalways express a "mood or point of view."" The Darmstadt composer Louis
has handed down Beethoven'snotionof a "fundamentalidea"
Schlbisser
1Ludwig Misch, Die Faktoren der Einheit in der Mehrsiitzigkeitder Werke
Beethovens. Versuch einer Theorie des Werkstils.(Ver6ffentlichungendes Beethovenhauses in Bonn, Neue Folge, Vierte Reihe, III; Munich, 1958).
2Franz Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries, Biographische Notizen iiber Ludwig van
Beethoven, rev. ed. Adolf Kalischer (Berlin, 1906), pp. 92-93 (the book originally
appeared in 1838).
Piano3 Carl Czerny,Die Kunst des Vortrags (Vollsttindigetheoretisch-praktische
forte-Schule,Op. 500; Vienna, 1847), p. 33.

605

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606

The Musical Quarterly

which allegedlycontrolsthe organizationof each of his works.' It seems

likelythatAnton Schindler'sconceptionof poetic ideas which are said to
underlie each of Beethoven'smajor works belongs here as well, even
thoughthe exact natureof thesepoetic ideas is far fromclear.5We also
know thatBeethovenhimselfwas deeplyconcernedwithexpressivecharacterin his compositions.He providedmanyof his works,eitherin whole
or in part, with explicitdesignationsof theirexpressivequality: Sonate
pathe'tique,Sinfoniaeroica,Pastoral-Sinfonie,
Quartettoserioso,La malinconia, Das Lebewohl, HeiligerDankgesang eines Genesenenan die Gottheit,Der schwergefassteEntschluss,and so forth.
But just exactly how all this is to be interpretedhas given rise to
considerabledifferenceof opinion. One such opinion takes its point of
departurefrom Schindler'spoetic ideas. Referringto conversationshe
allegedlyhad with Beethovenhimself,Schindlerclaims that Beethoven
intendedto affixprogrammatictitlesto all of his compositions- after
the fashionof the Pastoral Symphony- in orderto make his intentions
explicit,thus to provideforeach of themwhat Schindlercalls a "key."'
In a similar vein, Karl Amenda, a close friendof Beethoven around
1800, reportsthatthe adagio of the StringQuartet in F major, Opus 18,
No. 1, was explicitlyassociated by Beethovenwith the tomb scene of
Romeo and Juliet;and in a preliminary
draftthe close of thismovement
with
"les
the
annotation
derniers
soupirs."7 Other examples
appears
could also be mentioned.
It is clear that such an idea would findgreat resonanceamong ninemusicians and writerson music, and indeed E. T. A.
teenth-century
Hoffmann, Friedrich Rochlitz, Ludwig Rellstab, Robert Schumann,
Franz Liszt, and Richard Wagner - to name only a few of the more
prominentamong them - have regardedBeethovenand his worksin
this light.8More recentlyscholars such as Paul Bekker and Arnold
publishedin 1885, has oftenbeen
4The accountof Louis Schl6sser,originally
as in Ludwig van Beethoven:Berichteder Zeitgenossen,
Briefeund perreprinted,
I (Leipzig,1921), 253-54.The passage
ed. AlbertLeitzmann,
s6nlicheAufzeichnungen,
intoEnglish.
has oftenbeentranslated
BeethovenAs I Knew Him, ed. Donald W. MacArdle,
See
Anton
Schindler,
s
trans.ConstanceJolly(Chapel Hill, N. C., 1966), pp. 400-408.
6 Anton
Schindler,Life of Beethoven,translatedby Ignaz Moscheles (Boston,
n. d.), pp. 133-36,140.
7 See AlexanderWheelockThayer,LifeofBeethoven,
ed. ElliotForbes(Princeton,
N. J., 1964), I, 261, and Paul Mies, Die Bedeutungder SkizzenBeethovenszur
Erkenntnis
seinesStiles(Leipzig,1925), pp. 150-51.
8 See Adolf Sandberger,"Zur Geschichteder Beethovenforschung
und Beet-

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 607

By all odds the mostdrastic
Schering'~ have givensimilarinterpretations.
is the one offeredby Schering,who set out fromthe premisethat Schindler's poetic idea was the same as a literaryprogram,so that in this view
Beethoven'sworks become virtual symphonicpoems, the specificprograms for which were not identifiedby the composer.Scheringtook it
upon himselfto uncoverthese alleged hidden literaryprogramsby moving from a detailed analysis of the music to a hypotheticalprogram
which by means of intuition(Spiirsinn) is thenconnectedwitha specific
literarywork." In this way Schering made the followingassociations
among others:theSonate pathetiquewithportionsof Schiller'sHero und
Leander; the Sonata in C minorforViolin and Piano, Opus 30, No. 3,
with Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers;the Eroica Symphony
with Homer's Iliad (the obvious linksto France and Napoleon notwithto Goethe's
standing!); and the threeRazumovskyquartets,respectively,
Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, Jean Paul's Flegeljahre, and Cervantes's
Don Quixote in the translationby Ludwig Tieck. The Pastoral Symphonyitselfis specificallyassociatedwith JamesThomson's The Seasons.
Such an extremelyprogrammaticapproach to the problem of the
poetic ideas has, to be sure,not foundwidespreadacceptance. A number
of argumentsindeed may be raised against it, even against the whole
idea of any associationbetweenBeethoven'sworksand literaryworks.It
mustbe noted,forinstance,thatmostsuggestionsallegingthat such relationshipsexist do not go directlyback to Beethovenhimself,but rather
to people who knew him - Amenda and Schindler. Furthermore,it
would seem that if Beethovenreallyhad such elaborate literaryallusions
as Scheringsuggestsin mind when composinghis works,then some even a great deal - of evidence forthis would necessarilybe found in
the sketchbooks:while in fact there is virtuallynothingto substantiate
this interpretation.It may, on the other hand, be objected that the
sketchforthe adagio of the StringQuartet in F major, Opus 18, No. 1,
has the annotationat the close of the movement"les derniersoupirs,"
thus apparentlyconfirming
the associationwith Romeo and Juliet; but
at the same time the passage in question consistsmerelyof conventional
hovenliteratur,"in his Forschungen, Studien
Beethovenliteratur(Ausgewiihlte Aufsiitze zur
pp. 8-80.
9 Paul
Bekker, Beethoven (Berlin, 1912-);
don, 1925).
10The principal books are Beethoven in
Beethoven und die Dichtung (Berlin, 1936).
11Beethovenin neuer Deutung,
pp. 13-14.

und Kritiken zu Beethoven und zur

Musikgeschichte,II; Munich, 1924),
English ed., trans. M. Bozman (Lonneuer Deutung (Leipzig, 1934) and

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608

The Musical Quarterly

"sob" figurationswhich in themselveswould entirelyjustifythe remark

in the sketchwithoutany need to bringin Romeo and Juliet.Finally,we
know Beethoven'sintenselynegativereactionto the extensivepoetic interpretations
by the Bremenpoet Karl Iken of his Second and Seventh
Symphonies,and how he instructedSchindlerto make a public protest
against such interpretations:"Should explanations be necessary,they
should be restrictedto characterizingthe piece in a general way, something that a well-educatedmusician should not find it difficultto do
correctly."l2
Since the Pastoral Symphony,with its obvious expressiveintention
and "programmatic"titlesaffixedto the various movements,has played
such an importantpart in the developmentof this particularline of init is well to realize that the work can also be viewed in an
terpretation,
different
fashion,as the presentessay will endeavor to demonentirely
strate.This is done by establishinga relationbetweenthe fundamental,
poetic idea underlyingthe compositionas a whole and the older conception,handed down fromthe Baroque, that a musical compositionshould
be unifiedby the expressionof a single emotional characteror quality
throughout.The latteridea was espoused by a numberof German writers around the turnof the eighteenthcentury,and with particularforce
by a group of conservativemusiciansin Berlin,includingJohannFriedrich Reichardt,Carl Spazier, and Carl FriedrichZelter. Zelter,for instance, refersto a "total idea," which he variouslycalls also "total feeling" and "total sensation,"which is to governan entiremusical composition.'3This would seem to imply that the overall unity of a large
instrumentalcompositionin several movementsis somehow bound up
with expressionof a particularcharacter,emotion,or affectivequality.
But thisidea requiresconsiderablemodificationbeforeit can readilybe
applied to the major worksof Beethoven,to say nothingof those of the
Classic period generally.At the same time, there are several works by
Beethovento which the idea is more readilyapplicable, and the Pastoral
Symphonyis one of them.
Among the sketchesBeethovenmade in 1818 we findthe following
annotation: "Adagio cantique. Pious song in a symphonyin the ancient
modes - Lord God we praise thee - alleluia - eitheralone or as
173.

12Quoted by Adolf Sandberger in the Neues Beethoven-Jahrbuch,VII

(1937),

13 See Paul Mies, "Zur Musikauffassungund Stil der Klassik: eine Studie aus
dem Goethe-Zelter Briefwechsel1799-1832," Zeitschriftfiir Musikwissenschaft,XIII
(1930-31), 432-43 (especially 434).

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 609

introductionto a fugue. The whole 2nd symphonymightbe characterized in this manner ... ." 1 As we know, the two symphoniesplanned
here were never composed,but elementsof them clearlyappear in the
Ninth Symphonyand in the String Quartet in A minor, Opus 132.
Although there are but few compositionsof Beethoven that display a
single expressivecharacterthroughout,the possibilityof such a work in
his mind is clear enough; indeed, we hope to show that he had already
composed at least one work of this kind, exceptionalto be sure, but an
example nonetheless,the Pastoral Symphony.In the London sketchbook
(1807), which contains the principal sketchesfor this work, we find,
rightat the bottomof the firstpage the annotationsinfoniacaracteristica."1This qualificationwas applied by him to no other completed
symphony,althoughhe did apply it to the Overturein C major, Opus
138, originallyintendedfor the opera Fidelio; and he also, as we have
seen, contemplateda symphonycharacterizedby the use of the church
modes. Zelter,moreover,used the term"characteristic"withreferenceto
Beethovenin his correspondencewith Goethe.16
A search forthe explanationof the term "characteristic"in art and
music leads naturallyto aestheticand musical writingsof the late eighteenth century,especially in Germany. Just as we now recognize a
numberof different
meaningsforthe word "character" - among them
a graphicsymbol,a styleof handwriting,or perhapsmore commonlyan
attributeor set-ofattributesthat makes up or distinguishes
an individual
or a group of objects or persons- so also in the eighteenthcenturythe
termhad severalconnotations.In aesthetics,however,it is the last - an
attributeor set of attributesthat distinguishes
or characterizessomething
- that was ordinarilymeant. But even this meaning is open to further
since such characterizationmay underlinethe uniqueness
interpretation,
of an individualor object, in which case the elementof individualityand oftenemotionalexpression- is stressed,or it may serveto typify
the
individualor object, to mark him or it with typicalfeaturesthat belong
to a particulargroup,type,or class. Both interpretations
are encountered
14 English translationas

given in Thayer-Forbes,II, 888.

MS London, British Museum, Add. 31766, fol. 2'. Published in Ein Skizzenbuch zur Pastoralsinfonieop. 68 und zu den Trios op. 70, 1 und 2, ed. Dagmar Weise, II
(Ver6ffentlichungendes Beethovenhauses in Bonn, Neue Folge, 1. Reihe; Bonn,
1961), 5.
15

16 See his letter of

May 16, 1820, in Der Briefwechselzwischen Goethe und
Zelter, ed. Max Hecker, II (Leipzig, 1915), 62: "Haydn in der 'Sch6pfung' und in
den 'Jahreszeiten,'Beethoven in seinen Charaktersinfonienund in der 'Schlacht von
Vittoria' haben das Seltsamsteauf die Tafel gestelltund ausgezeichnet."

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610

The Musical Quarterly

in eighteenth-century
German aestheticwritings."
The same two possiblemeaningsappear when the termis used with
respectto music. Oftenthe word "character,""characterized,"or "characteristic"refersto the expressionof individualsubjectiveemotions; or
it refersto the manifestationin the musical compositionof some typical
and generallyrecognizedquality. The two are not mutuallyexclusive.'8
As an example we may take the descriptiongiven by Carl Friedrich
Cramer in his reviewof Georg ChristianFiiger's Charakteristische
Clavierstiicke:"These characteristicpieces differfromsonatas thus: in the
latterseveraldifferent
charactersare presentedmixed up together;in the
former,however, in general only one definitecharacter is expressed
throughoutthe piece." ' Thus, accordingto Cramer, in such a characteristicpiece not only is a singleexpressivecharacterdisplayedthroughout - and thus may be associated with the Baroque doctrineof the
expressionof the affections- but its characteris also definite,and, we
may add, in most cases explicit. Cramer's descriptionis borne out by
keyboard compositionspublished in the eighteenthcenturyunder the
name of characteristic
or characterizedpieces,such as those by C. P. E.
Bach in Birnstiehl's
serialanthologyMusikalischesAllerley(Berlin, 176163), or Daniel Gottlob Tiirk's Handstiicke (two volumes; Leipzig,
1792), to name onlytwo.20
Tiirk, for his part, has given definitionsnot only of "characteristic

The formerdesignation,
symphony."
piece,"but also of "characteristic
17 A comprehensive discussion of the problem is Ferdinand Denk, Das Kunstschiine und Charakteristischevon Winckelmannbis Friedrich Schlegel (diss., Munich,
1925); see also Denk, "Ein Streit um Gehalt und Gestalt des Kunstwerkes in der
deutschen Klassik," Germanisch-RomanischeMonatsschrift,XVIII (1930), 427-42.
18The subject needs furtherinvestigation.Two works that seem especially close
to Beethoven and his circle are: Christian Gottlob Neefe, "Das Charakteristischeder
Instrumentalmusik,"in his Dilettanterien (n. p., 1785); excerpt in Ludwig Schiedermair, Der junge Beethoven, 2nd ed. (Weimar, n. d.), pp. 89-90; and Christian Gottfried K6rner, "tber Characterdarstellung in der Musik," Die Horen, I. Jahrgang
1795, 5. Stiick, pp. 97-121; in the facsim. reprinted. (Darmstadt, 1959), Vols. I-II,
585-609; also reprinted in Wolfgang Seifert, Christian GottfriedKiirner als Musikiistheiker (Forschungsbeitriigezur Musikwissenschaft,IX; Regensburg, 1960), pp.
147-58. It should be noted that the distinction between "tone-painting" and "the
characteristic" drawn by Hugo Goldschmidt, Die Musikiisthetikim 18. Jahrhundert
writings.
(Zurich, 1915) is not always reflectedin eighteenth-century

19Filger's pieces were published in Tiibingen, apparently in 1783 or 1784, and

not in 1751 as some earlier referenceshave it. Cramer's review appears in his Magazin der Musik, II (Hamburg, 1786), 1308-10.
20See Willi Kahl, article "Charakterstiick," Die Musik in Geschichte und
Gegenwart,II (Kassel, 1952), cols. 1094-1100.

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 611

he says, "is used primarilyfor those individual compositionsin which
eitherthe characterof a person,etc., or of any sortof emotion (feeling,
passion), such as joy, yearning,compassion, pride, love, etc., is exof
pressed."21 Again the emphasisis put on the musical representation
emotional
of
characteristic
As
particular
qualities. composers
pieces Tiirk
names C. P. E. Bach, Carl Ferdinand FriedrichFasch, and JohannAbraham Peter Schulz, in addition to Fiiger,of whose pieces, incidentally,
he says that "they could have remained unpublishedwithoutdoing art
any harm whatsoever."
In Tiirk's explanationof characteristic
symphonythe termis associated with the overtureto a theatricalor dramatic work of some kind:
"Characteristicsymphoniesis a name that could primarilybe given to
thosesymphonieswhich insteadof the usual overtures[i. e., which lack a
specificexpressivecharacter]are intendedto open an opera, an oratorio,
or somethingof the sort. But the term may be applied to a symphony
only when it stands in [close] relationto the principal content,or even
merelyto importantindividual parts of the opera that is to follow,or
when a certainaction thatis to take place immediatelyis expressedin the
symphony.""'As examples he mentionsthe overturesto Gluck's Alceste,
Naumann's Cora, Mozart's Don Giovanni,and Reichardt's Geisterinsel.
PresumablyMozart's overtureto Die Zauberflite, as well as several of
Beethoven's overtures,could also be included. In any case, the term
"characteristic"seems,once more,to referto a compositionwhose emotional quality can be exactlydeterminedand explicitlystated in words.
Cramer, in his review of Fiiger's keyboardpieces, also goes on to
name individual composersof characteristicpieces, mentioningfirstJohann FriedrichKliffler(who composed a well-knownbattle symphony)
and JustinHeinrichKnecht (who composed an equally well-knownpastoral piece), and then adds the names of Telemann, Dittersdorf,and
with particularemphasis,C. P. E. Bach. He then makes the assertion
that Haydn has also composed such pieces,but that he has omittedthe
21 Klavierschule, 2nd ed.
(Leipzig, 1806), p. 444. The firstedition of Tiirk's
treatise (1789) is available in a modern facsim. reprint,ed. Erwin R. Jacobi (Documenta musicologica, I. Reihe, XXIII; Kassel, 1962). The passage correspondingto
the one just quoted appears here on p. 395.
22Ibid., p. 440: "CharakteristischeSinfonien k6nnte man vorzugsweise diejenigen Sinfonien nennen, welche, statt der sonst gew6hnlichen Overtiiren, zur Eroffnung einer Oper, eines Oratoriums &c. bestimmt sind. Die erwihnte Benennung
kommt aber der Sinfonie nur alsdann zu, wenn sie auf den Hauptinhalt, auch wohl
bloss auf einzelne wichtigere Theile der darauf folgenden Oper &c. Beziehung hat,
oder wenn eine gewisse unmittelbarvorhergehendeHandlung in der Sinfonie ausgedriickt wird." (In the firstedition the corresponding passage appears on p. 392.)

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The Musical Quarterly

descriptivetitles.Presumablyan example of thiswould be Haydn's Symphonyin F minor,No. 35a or 49, composedin 1768, which displaysthe
passionate characterthroughout,so that it was (and is) known as La
passione,a titlethatdoes not come fromHaydn.
Thus we have clearlyreached the second of the two principal connotationsof the qualification"characteristic":a compositionpossessing
certaintypicalfeaturesthat markit as belongingto a particulargenreor
type. Such a piece, then,must make use of a musical stylethat has explicit associationswitha definiteexpressivecharacter.The repertoryof
such musical stylesand associationsseems to have been rathersmall. As
exampleswe may suggest:thepassionate,thepathe'tique,the melancholy,
the churchly,the military,the heroic,the battlefield,the hunt, and the
Differentnational characterswere frequentlyexpressed
pastoral-idyllic.
throughdances.
of the characteristic
That Beethoven'sunderstanding
was in conformwith
with
clear
from
an
annotation
sketchesfor
seems
associated
this
ity
the Piano Sonata in A-flat major, Opus 26. This unusual compositionbeginswith a set of variations,continueswith a scherzoand then a
funeralmarch,and concludeswitha rapid finale.Aftergivingthe theme
used forthe variationsBeethovenwrotein the sketches,"varied throughout - then a minuetor some othercharacteristic
piece, as, forexample,
a march in A-flatminor,and then this," and therefollowsa sketchfor
the theme of the last movement.23
A minuet or, better,a march, eshim
a
funeral
was
for
a characteristic
march,
pecially
piece. Hence, when
Beethovenused the designationsinfoniacaracteristicaor, later,sinfonia
pastorella,it is obvious that he intendeda particularkind of characteristicwork,one associatedwiththe pastoralcharacter.
Many years ago Adolf Sandbergerpresenteda comprehensivediscussionof the pastoralstyle,24so that it is necessaryhereonlyto recapitulate the main pointsof his surveyof this tradition.As the principalelements in the pastoralstylewe may mentionbird-callthemes,hunting23 Gustav Nottebohm,Zweite Beethoveniana,
p. 237: "variee tutt a fatto - poi
Menuetto o qualche altro pezzo characteristicacome p. E. una Marcia in as moll e
poi questo."
S2Adolf Sandberger, "Zu den geschichtlichenVoraussetzungen der Pastoralsinfonie," in his Forichungen, Studien und Kritiken zu Beethoven und zur Beethovenliteratur (Ausgewdhlte Aufsdtze zur Musikgeschichte,II; Munich, 1924), pp. 154200. See also Willi Kahl, "Zu Beethovens Naturauffassung,"in Beethoven und die
Gegenwart. Festschrift des Beethovenhauses Bonn Ludwig Schiedermair zum 60.
Geburtstag,ed. Arnold Schmitz (Bonn, 1937), pp. 220-65 and 324-37; Karl Schbinewolf, Beethoven in der Zeitwende, I (Halle, 1953), 417-21, and Hans Engel, article
"Pastorale," Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart,X (1962), cols. 937-42.

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 613

horn themes,shepherds'pipes (pifa or pifferari),and shepherds'calls
of flow(ranz des vaches or yodeling),countrydances,the representation
characteristic
imitation
of
that
of
and
the
water
and
bleating
ing
sheep,
of countrylife,the bagpipe with its drone bass, In the eightinstrument
eenth centurythe liltingdotted rhythmof the siciliano was frequently
of the pastoral,as were flutes,oboes,
associatedwith the representation
and horns. Melodic motion in parallel thirdswas also common. That
such featureswere recognizedat the time as having a pastoral character
seems clear, for example, froma passage in Goethe's ItalienischeReise,
where a "Pastoral Music" which he heard (January 6, 1787) is described as being characterizedby "the shawms of the shepherds,""the
of birds,"and "the bleatingof sheep." 25
twittering
Pastoral compositionsof this type had a long history,as has been
abundantlydemonstratedby Sandberger and Engel. Sandberger gives
examples of pastoral subjects (for instance,II pastor fido) in theatrical
presentationsfromthe sixteenththroughthe eighteenthcenturies;obviouslymany operas and intermezzoscould be included. Portrayalsof the
Annunciationand the Nativityare also oftenpastoral in character,as
forinstance,by Bach's cantata forAnnunciation,Wie sch6n
exemplified,
leuchtetder Morgenstern(BWV 1), or Handel's Messiah, which contains a shortinstrumental
piece called Pastoral Symphony.We may also
findexamplesin worksby Vivaldi, Boccherini,Leopold Mozart, Dittersdorf,and countlessothers.Oftenrelatedto the pastoralpiece is the chace
or Jagdstiick(the hunt piece).26 Parts of Haydn's oratorios,Die Jahreszeiten in particular,may be connectedwith this tradition.It is not uncommon to have the naive-idylliccalm interruptedby a briefthunderstorm, as pieces by Freystiidtler,27
Vogler, Knecht, or even Vivaldi
The famous overtureRossini wrote for Guillaume Tell belongs
testify.
here, since it presentsin successiondawn, a storm,a pastoral, and the
quick march as finale.
Even Beethoven himself,apart fromthe Pastoral Symphony,composed worksof this kind. There is the earlyset of Variationssur un air
suisse (WoO 64), composed around 1790. Then, among a collectionof
songs Beethovenarranged for the Edinburgh published George Thomson in the winterof 1815-16 under the titleLieder verschiedenerVblker
25Goethe, Werke (Hamburger Ausgabe), XI (1960), 156.
26 See Alexander L. Ringer, "The Chasse as a Musical Topic in the 18th Century,"Journal of the American Musicological Society, VI (1953), 148-59.
27 See H. W. Hamann, "Zu Beethovens
Pastoral-Sinfonie,"Die Musikforschung,
XIV (1961), 55-60.

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The Musical Quarterly

(WoO 158), are found five Tirolean songs based on yodelingthemes

and one Swiss song,a duet settingof Goethe's poem in the Swiss dialect
An ii Berglibin i gesdsse;two of thesewere subsequentlyused forsetsof
it is not
variationsforpiano and fluteor violin,Opus 107. Furthermore,
that
in
the
so-called
Overture
C
Namensfeier
major, Opus
impossible
115, which was known as La Chasse at the time, belongs here, even
though Beethoven himselfdenied the association.Anotherpossible example would be the finaleof the Violin Concerto.
When one turnsspecificallyto the Pastoral Symphony,it is easy to
see that themesconnectedwith the traditionalelementsof the pastoral
styleunderlie and at the same time unifythe entirecompositionin a
most explicit fashion. Two such elements are mentioned by Anton
Schindlerin his account of the work: the obviousbird calls at the close
of the second movement(one of the two plain examplesof tone-painting
in the symphony,the other being the thunderstorm)and the peasants'
dance with its humorousadumbrationof the playingof rural musicians.
(Here one might referto Mozart's Ein musikalischerSpass, K. 522,
which not only contains humor of this sort but is known as "DorfSchindleralso pointsto a figureused repeatedlyin
musikanten-sextett.")
the firstmovement,which,he stateswithoutgivingany evidence,makes
of Austrianfolkmusic.28
use of a patterncharacteristic
But there is much more. Perhaps most importantis the ranz des
vaches, the yodelingtheme.Common featuresof ranz des vaches melodies are: triadicmotion,dotted6/8 meter (reminiscentof the siciliano),
frequentuse of grace notes, all harmonizedmainly by the tonic triad.
There can be no question that the descriptionof a typical ranz des
vaches melody is at the same time a good descriptionof the principal
of the finaleof Beethoven'sPastoral Symphony,the Hirtengesang.
thevme
In fact,as Alexander Hyatt-Kinghas shown,Beethovenemployedhere
a real Swiss ranz des vaches melody,the one known as the Rigi tune."2
Among the sketchesforthe themewe findthe annotation"siciliano," in
a Schindler, Beethoven as . Knew Him, pp. 144-47. Other themes in the symphony have been associated with Slavic, or more specifically,Croatian folk music; but
there has been much debate on the problem, and a satisfactoryresolution has yet to
be reached. See, among others: B. Sirola, "Haydn und Beethoven und ihre Stellung
zur kroatischen Volksmusik," Beethoven-Zentenarfeier.Internationaler musikhistorischer Kongress (Vienna, 1927), pp. 111-15, and K. Sch6newolf, Beethoven in der
Zeitwende, I, 421 and 695.
2 A.
Hyatt-King, "Mountains, Music and Musicians," The Musical Quarterly,
XXXI (1945), 401-3.

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as a Sinfoniacaracteristica 615
PastoralSymphony
Beethoven's
Ex. la

afterHyatt-King)
Ranzdesvaches(Rigiversion,

Ex. lb

fromPastoralSymphony-Beginning
Hirtengesang
Allegretto
I
(J. = 60)
-.

in B6
Clarinets

IMF

Horn in F

5j

-IF

___

"_

cresc.

___

p
Violin I

Violin II

Viola

PP

cresc.

Violoncello

10
BnF

PP

cresc.

15

p dolce

cresc

pdolce

cresc.

Hn.

Pecresc.

V1.
11.-0-.
dolce

Sf

cresc.

referenceto the rhythmof that dance which Beethovenalso uses.30

30London Sketchbook,fol. 14'. See Ein Skizzenbuch zur
Pastoralsinfonieop. 68,

II, 29.

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616

The Musical Quarterly

The drone-bassaccompanimentto thisthemerightat the beginning

of the finale is worth special attention.First,the clarinetssuggestthe
ranz des vaches theme in C major, accompanied by the sustainedfifth
C-G in the violas; then,the horn echoes the clarinetsan octave lower,
but joined by the cellos, which play the fifthF-C, thus creatingdissonance withthe violas. While thismay be intendedas rusticin character,
suggestingthe bagpipe, it must also be rememberedthat,since such dissonancesoccur in othercompositionsof Beethoven,notablyin the Eroica
Symphonyand the piano sonata Das Lebewohl,thischaracteris not to be
inferredsimplyfromthe mere presenceof the dissonance.The passage
recurs in varied form immediatelypreceding the development (bars
56-63).
Elsewherein the symphonyare found themesand passages that depend on the combinationof the ranz des vaches melodic type and the
drone bass. It appears prominentlyrightat the beginningof the symphony,in the principalthemeof the firstmovement.This themefeatures
the drone bass in fifths(as in the finale) and melodicmaterialthat may
be divided into threesegments(which we designateX, Y, and Z), but
the underlyingbasis is clearlytriadic. The thirdsegment (Z) moves in
parallel thirds,a featureof the pastoralstyle,while the second part (Y)
displaysthe rhythmSchindlerassociateswithAustrianfolkmusic.
in character,is the peasants'
Anotherexample, completelydifferent
dance in the thirdmovement,the passage in 2/4 timemarked"In tempo
d'Allegro (J = 132)" beginningat bar 165. Here the upper voices are
markedby repetitions
of a stronglyaccented rhythmic
figure(see Ex. 3c,
while
accented
the
bass
has
heavily
below)
slow-movingnotes (the interval of the fourthpredominateshere) in a way reminiscentof the bagthe firstprincipalthemein thismovepipe accompaniment.Furthermore,
ment,in the D major section (bars 8-16 and 24-32), has somethingof
the same quality.
Many examples fromother parts of the symphonycould be introin the
to the importanceof thistypeof construction
duced here to testify
the
to
made
for
be
a
as
whole.
Reference
could,
example,
composition
transitionaland secondarypassages in the expositionof the firstmovement (bars 94-110), where the bass has the same character; and the
same is true of the closing theme (bars 115-35). There are also long
stretchesin the developmentsectionwhich belong here, especiallybars
151-75 and, again, bars 197-221. While the combinationof the ranz des
vaches with the drone bass is less importantin the slow movement(the
scene bythe brook), elementsderivedfromit are not entirelyabsent,as

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 617

ofPastoral
FirstMovement
Symphony-Beginning

Ex.2

manontroppo = 66)
Allegro
(

Horn in F

I
violin
Violin II

Violoncello

6112

Contrabasso
..s

Hn.
VI.I

1010

PC_

II
V1.
Via.

, - ,

?-z
crec.

--- f

cresc.

V
cs
c.

,.,

, cresc.

cresc.

cresc
cresc.

VIC.
cresc. -

- -cresc.

3)cresc.

Cb.esc

may be seen fromthe prevailingcharacterof the bass part.

The ranz des vaches, however,is by no means the only interesting
featurepresentedby the finale. The lyricaltheme of the movementas
stated at the outset consistsof an eight-barphrase played by the first
violins and accompanied primarilyby pizzicato cellos and sustained
chords in the clarinetsand bassoons (see Ex. 1). The theme is then
repeatedtwo moretimes,firstwiththe melodyin the second violins (bars

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618

The Musical Quarterly

17-24) and finallyin the violas, cellos,horns,and clarinets(bars 25-32);

with each statementof the theme goes an intensification:the dynamic
level rises and the rhythmicaction in the accompanyingfigurationincreases. In short,we have a crescendoin stages,each stage comprising
a complete statementof the theme. This repetitivestructureis maintained each timethe themeappears duringthe course of the movement.
In the developmentthe themecommencesin themain key,F major, but
its repetitivepresentationis brokenoffduringits second statement(bars
oftheexpositionis
thethreefold
64-75). In therecapitulation,
presentation
heard,but the themeis here submittedto figuralvariation (bars 117-24,
125-32, and 133-40), then followed by the concludingpassage (bars
the some as in the exposition.
140-64), whichis substantially
While such a repetitivestructureis perhaps somewhatunusual in a
work of this kind, there are a number of other compositionsin which
Beethovenemploysit, as, forinstance,in the coda of the firstmovement
of the Eroica Symphony,the allegrettoof the Seventh Symphony,the
principalthemesin the finalesof the "Waldstein" Sonata and the Violin
Concerto,as well as, to a lesserextent,the Coriolan and Egmont overtures. More pertinenthere, however,as will be seen, is the use of this
repetitivestructurein the finaleof the NinthSymphony,as well as in the
Choral Fantasia, and it is this use that seemsto provide a clue to Beethoven's intentionsin the Pastoral Symphony.
Beethoven'sown titleforthe movementaccordingto the annotation
he put on the originalconcert-master's
part was "The Shepherd'sSong.
Joyousfeelingswiththanksto God afterthe storm."31 In the sketchbook
known as Landsberg 10 (formerlyin the PrussianState Library,now in
the possessionof the StiftungPreussischerKulturbesitzin West Berlin)
this theme is characterizedby Beethoven as "Expression of thanks. O
Lord, we thankthee. Slide softlythroughout."32 The idea of an expression of thanksto God is of particularinteresthere,since somethingof the
sort is also suggestedon a single sheet containingsketchesfor the symphony in the Bodmer Collection at the Beethovenhausin Bonn, where
the theme is described: "Prayer. 4 voice-parts."33 Furthermore,in the
31Nottebohm, Zweite Beethoveniana, p. 378: "Hirtengesang. Wohltfitigemit
Dank an die GottheitverbundeneGefiihlenach dem Sturm."
32Quoted by Weise, in Ein Skizzenbuch zur Pastoralsinfonie op. 68, I, 17:
"Ausdrucks des Danks [.] O Herr wir danken dir [.] schleifen durchaus sanft." See
also p. 10. Compare the slightlydifferentand less correct reading given by Nottebohm, Zweite Beethoveniana, p. 375.
33See Willi Kahl, "Zu Beethovens Naturauffassung," pp. 253-54: "Gebeth.
4 Stimmen."

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 619

sketchbookGrasnick 3 (formerlyin the Prussian State Library,Berlin,
but apparentlyno longerextant) therewere to be found on a leaf conto the Pastoral Symphonythe words "Praise be to God
tainingreferences
on high- in the churchstyle- holyin the churchstyle."34 In view of
all this,one mightconnectthe repetitivestructureof the themewith the
strophicformcharacteristicof the hymn,as is surelythe case with the
Sandberger, in his surveyof
"Joy" theme of the Ninth Symphony.35
to
the
makes
reference
symphonyby JustinHeinpastoral compositions,
richKnecht alreadymentioned,dated around 1784, the outlineof which
is similarto the Pastoral Symphony;its finalebears the title "inno con
variazioni."36 It is entirelypossible that Beethovenhad a similar conceptionin the finaleof his symphony.
It seems plausible that Beethovenfurtherunifiedhis symphonyby
sometimesin conjunctionwith a
employingthis repetitiveconstruction,
crescendoand sometimesnot, in all movementsof the work. It shows
itselfprimarilyin extensivepassages characterizedby incessantrepetition,
oftenalmost in the nature of ostinatos,and, by extension,in numerous
themes formulatedin repetitivephrase structure.One may raise the
objection that such formulationsappear elsewherein Beethoven,and so
theydo, but in this particularcompositiontheyseem at the same time
to dominatethe construction.
A few examples may be given to illustratethis point. In the first
movementthis kind of constructionplays the largestrole - apart, of
course,fromthe finale.We can point firstto the principaltheme itself,
where for ten bars the same bar of music is repeated ten times,with a
crescendoand then a decrescendo(bars 15-25). Then, in the transition,
there is a section characterizedby repetition,an eight-barperiod presentedthreetimes,followedby a cadence of two bars (bars 67-93). But
most strikingis the development,where we find a long passage (bars
151-80) based on incessantreiterationof the same material,in which the
primaryphrase unit is fourbars in length: this phrase comes firstin Bflat and is repeated twice, then in D, where it is also presentedthree
times and associated with a crescendo,and finallya single cumulative
34Sketchbook Grasnick 3, fol. 16'. See Ein Skizzenbuch zur Chorfantasie op. 80
und zu anderen Werken, ed. Dagmar Weise (Veriffentlichungen des Beethovenhauses in Bonn, Neue Folge, 1. Reihe; Bonn, 1957), p. 92: "Ruhm sej Gott in der
H6h im Kirchenstilheilig im Kirchenstil."
35See F. E. Kirby, "Beethoven and the geselliges Lied," Music and Letters,
XLVII (1966), 116-25, as well as Joseph Miiller-Blattau, "Das Finale der Neunten
Sinfonie," in Von der Vielfalt der Musik (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1966), pp. 269-84.
36Sandberger,"Zu den geschichtlichenVoraussetzungen,"pp. 190-94.

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The Musical Quarterly

620

statementin D, followedby a relaxingpassage of eightbars. The whole

is then restatedin G and E (bars 198-225). Had Beethovencomposed
thisin the 1820s, he would doubtlesshave markedthe section "ritmoa
quattro battute." Elsewherein the symphonyrepetitivephrase structure
prevailsin the most importantthematicmaterial. In the second movement we may observeit in the principaland secondarythemes.In the
third movement,where this procedure would accord well with the
country-dancecharacterof the composition,we find it in each of the
themes: the openingtheme,withits oppositionof F major and D major,
in the village musicians'episode (bars 87-161), and finallyin the peasants' dance (bars 165-204). Repetitionand sequentialstructurelikewise
appear in the fourthmovement,the storm.
There are two otherfactorsthat promoteoverall unityin the work
but are not specificallyassociatedwiththe pastoralcharacter.Both have
to do withrhythm.The firstinvolvesthe use of a rhythmicmotivein all
movementsof the symphony.The motive consistsof the alternationof
formthe sixteenth-notes
withgroupsof two sixteenth-notes,
eighth-notes
ing the weak part of the beat. But the motiveappears in two formsaccordingto whetherthe meteris duple (as in the firstand thirdmovements) or triple (as in the others). In the first,second, and last
movementsthe motiveformsa part of the principaltheme,while in the
thirdit dominatesthe peasant dance episode. As already mentioned,we
have Schindler's unsupportedstatementthat this rhythmicpattern is
foundin Austrianfolkmusic. If true,then the use of thispatternwould
provideyet anotherinstanceof the use of elementsof the pastoralstyle
in the symphony.
Ex. 3

RecurringmotifinPastoralSymphony

a. FirstMovement(bar 2)

c. ThirdMovement(bar 65)

b. Second Movement(bar 6)

d. FifthMovement(bar 33)

The second has to do with the accompaniment.In this symphony

we frequently
findternarysubdivisionof the beat, as goes withoutsaying
in the second and fifthmovements,in 12/8 and 6/8, respectively.
But it
is also prominentin the firstmovement,in 2/4 time, especiallyin the
long repetitivepassages in the developmentthat have already been discussed,wherethe triplerhythmis continuouslymaintainedin the violas
and cellos (bars 151-74 and 196-220); thistripletrhythmin the accompaniment is prepared for in the exposition,as may be seen from the

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 621

transitionand closing themes (bars 54-63 and 115-30). Finally, referthat characterizesthe village
ence may be made to the conflictin rhythms
musicians'episodein the thirdmovement.
To draw all this together,it seems clear that in the Pastoral Symphony the expressivecharacter that promotes unity is explicit: the
pastoralstyle.This characterdependsupon the use of certainstereotyped
thematictypes,the ranz des vaches, the bagpipe, the countrydance, the
brook,the bird calls, the storm,and so on, along with an almost systematic use of repetitionin the phrase-structure
which may be associated
with the strophicformcharacteristicof the hymn.The consistentuse of
such materialsexplainswhy Beethovencalled the work a sinfoniacaracteristica.Hence, in the Pastoral Symphonywhat Schl6sser called the
"basic idea," what Zeltercalled the "total idea," Ries's "definiteobject,"
Czerny's"basic mood or point of view," or what Schindlerreferredto as
the "poetic idea" of the work does not seem to be a single theme or
motive, but rather a complex of elements,all of which are associated
with the expressionof the pastoral character.It is of such elementsthat
the entirework is composed, and hence this symphonyis unifiedin a
way that does not appear to be typicalof most of Beethoven'scompositions. The symphonyratherfulfillsone of Cramer's requirementsfor a
characteristicpiece: a single expressivecharacteris manifestedall the

waythrough.

in the
Thus, it may be suggestedthatif the symphonyis characteristic
senseheredescribed,withitsexpressivecharactermanifestedby consistent
use of elementsof a readily recognizedpastoral style,this would shed
lighton some of Beethoven'sannotationsconcerningthe work that appear among the sketches.In the London sketchbook (1807), which
containssketchesforthe entiresymphony,
we findrighton the firstpage:
"it is left to the listenerto discoverthe situationsfor himself."37 The
sketchbookknown as Landsberg 10, which originallywas part of the
London sketchbook,containsstillotherwrittenannotations: "even without descriptionone will recognizethe whole,which [is] more feelingthan
tone-painting";and "Sinfoniapastorella- anyonewho has ever had an
idea of countrylifecan imagineforhimselfwhat the author [intends].""
Apart fromthe usual explanationsof these passages, which involve the
differencebetween tone-painting(Malerei) and expressionof feeling
(Ausdruck der Empfindung)," it seems equally clear that the listeners
Skizzenbuch zur Pastoralsinfonieop. 68, II, 5.
38Ibid., I, 17.
3
Sandberger, "Mehr Ausdruck der Empfindungals Malerei," op. cit., pp. 20112. See also Willi Kahl, "Zu BeethovensNaturauffassung."
37 Weise, Ein

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622

The Musical Quarterly

would grasp Beethoven'sintentionsimplybecause theywould recognize

the characteristicuse of the pastoral stylethroughoutthe composition.
advanced
The pointis especiallyimportantin view of interpretations
in the nineteenthcentury,and not infrequently
today,accordingto which
the Pastoral Symphonyis a piece of Romantic programmusic pure and
simple. The fact that Beethoven gave descriptivetitles to the various
movementsof the symphonyis oftencitedin supportof thisview. On the
of
otherhand, we may referonce more to the completeconventionality
these descriptivetitlesin the contextof the traditionof compositionsin
the pastoralstyle.But beyondthis thereremainsthe fact that the work
is a symphonywhich respectsthe principalformalrequirementsof that
genre.The tonal organizationof the work,forinstance,is preciselywhat
would be expectedin a symphony:all movementsare in F (the stormis
in F minor), except the slow movement,which is in B-flat,the subdominantrelationto the main key. Furthermore,the sonata form,the
structurepar excellenceof instrumental
musicof the Classic period,rules
the symphony,appearing everywhereexcept for the third and fourth
movements(the "Gatheringof the Peasants" and the storm). It is also
worth noting that the realisticbird calls in the second movementare
introducedonly as an appendage, once the course of the recapitulation
has been completed.
Even the undeniable changes in organizationmade by Beethovenin
this work do not basically affectits constitutionas a traditionalsymphony. Among the more prominentchanges to be noted here are the
added movement (the storm), the peculiar organizationof the third
movement,the scherzo,and the runningtogetherof the last threemovements,which follow one another without a pause. The storm,while
clearlyan example of tone-painting(Malerei), is dominatedby a single
motivictheme,so that the principleof thematicconsistencyis leftundisturbed.As forthe peasant dance, we have here a scherzo,but insteadof
the conventionalarrangementwitha trioBeethovengivesus a succession
of threedances, the firstat the verybeginning,the second (beginningat
bar 87) featuringthe village musicianspassage already mentioned,and
the third (beginningat bar 165), a stampingdance in duple time (see
Ex. 3c). Since such successionsof dances are importantin the historical
theirincorporationhere does not represent
backgroundof the symphony,
a departurefromthe traditionsof the genre: the dances merelygive a
pastoral character to the symphonicscherzo. Furthermore,one could
regard the thirdof the dances (or possiblythe second and thirdtaken
together) as constitutinga trio which is heard twice, between three

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Beethoven'sPastoralSymphonyas a Sinfoniacaracteristica 623

statementsof the scherzoproper,a procedurefamiliarfromthe Fourth
and Seventhsymphoniesand other compositions.The last statementof
the scherzoproper,then,is brokenoffand runs directlyinto the storm,
with which,moreover,it is thematicallyrelated.
This bringsus to a mostimportantpoint,the sense of continuity,
the
achieved
of
Pastoral
movements
the
progression
Symby the last three
phony,which are to be played withoutpauses betweenthem: peasants'
dance - storm- hymn of thanksgiving.While instancesof running
movementstogetherare by no means unknownin the instrumental
music
of the time,as worksby Haydn, C. P. E. Bach, and Beethovenhimself
here it is essentialto note that the procedurefollowedin
readilytestify,
the Pastoral Symphonycorrespondscloselyto the second half of Beethoven's FifthSymphony,which was composed at the same time. In the
FifthSymphonythe progressionmoves fromthe martialscherzothrough
the vigoroustrio and the muted restatementof the scherzo,which ends
in a gradual diminuendo,leading to the mysteriouspianissimopassage
with the sustainedA-flatchord in the stringsand the softpulsation of
the timpani,culminatingaftera gradual quickeningof activityand an
of the finale.In the
exhilaratingcrescendoin the triumphantaffirmation
PastoralSymphonythe sequence of expressivecharactersis entirelydifferent, movingfromthe naive dances of the peasants throughthe tumult
of the storm(which thus,althoughit is considerablylongerand is designated by Beethovenas a separate movement,structurally
correspondsto
the transitionpassage in the FifthSymphony)to the quiet affirmation
of
the hymnof thanksgiving.
The two symphoniesthus have much in common, howevermuch theydifferin character.
The Pastoral Symphony,then,is a symphony.But it is a particular
kind of symphony,a characteristicsymphony,consistently
incorporating
traditional- and, forthe audiences of the time,readilyrecognizableelementsof the pastoral style,even to the inclusionof virtuallystereotyped titlesfor the various movementsand of the most obviouslypic- but
torial componentsof the style- bird calls and the thunderstorm
in such a way that the normalconstitutionof the symphonicformis left
intact.The consistentuse of the pastoralstyleprovidesthe fundamental
idea that underliesand unifiesthe symphonyas a whole.40

40 Work
leading to this article was supported in large measure by research grants
made through Lake Forest College in the summersof 1965, 1967, and 1968 by the
Irene Heinz Given and John La Parte Given Foundation, Inc., and by the Ford
Foundation.

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