The « Pastoral Symphony », also known as the 6th Symphony, is Beethoven’s only symphony containing explicitly programmatic content, relying more on evocation and sensation rather than on sentiment.

Man’s place in nature has always been an inspiration for many artists – in literature, in painting of course, but also in music. The best examples are “The Seasons” by Haydn – Beethoven was one of his pupils – and Antonio Vivaldi’s famous “Four Seasons”.
In the early 19th century, the pre-Romantic era, the man vs. nature theme (Man facing his destiny) was already a Romantic idea. Whereas the 3rd, 5th and 9th symphonies are masterpieces in music history, the “Pastoral Symphony” is a key work that links the classical and Romantic period through the choice of this theme – which Jean-François Zygel will demonstrate in this episode of “Les Clefs de l’orchestre”.