May 17, 2008
Music does not always have to mean something. Sure, there are pieces of music that specifically evoke feelings and ideas, landscapes and situations. But there are also works that are just music, plain and simple. Music without an agenda, without an ulterior motive.
The compositions of Beethoven fall into both categories (although there are many more pieces that have no explicit narrative), and sometimes the clarification of whether something had extra-musical meaning came from the man himself, but sometimes we listeners just can’t help but manufacture meanings that Beethoven may or may not have intended. Take the Fifth Symphony, for instance. The opening motif, three short notes followed by a long one, is considered by many to be Beethoven’s musical evocation of Fate knocking at the door. It’s not such a stretch to think that, since it’s something Beethoven said. Beyond that, however, the Fifth Symphony tells no specific story. Some historians and music lovers, however, have tried to interpret the symphony as a story of struggle that ultimately ends in triumph. You can certainly see it that way, although there is no guarantee that Beethoven would have agreed with you.
Then there is the Sixth Symphony, better known as the Pastoral Symphony. This is a work that is intentionally programmatic, that is, there is an included program that reveals some sort of narrative. In the case of the Sixth Symphony, Beethoven evokes country life, a musical rendering of tranquility, celebration, and reverence for nature.
Unlike his other symphonies which have four movements, the Sixth has five movements, and each of them has a name:
1. Pleasant, Cheerful Feelings Aroused on Arriving in the Countryside
2. Scene at the Brook
3. Happy Gathering of Country Folk
4. Storm
5. Shepherd’s Song, Cheerful and Thankful Feelings After the Storm
It was clearly Beethoven’s intention to portray these scenes, but his level of description does not get too specific. In other words, don’t expect a film score-like musical description of actions. Some people might remember that the Sixth Symphony was chosen for Disney’s first Fantasia. In that case, the animation was made to fit the music perfectly. But Beethoven was more interested in evoking a mood rather than using music to represent specific actions (I can say with some certainly that he probably didn’t envision baby mythological creatures flying through pastel scenery!). In the end, he wanted his music to transcend its simple program and become universal. There is a famous quote of Beethoven in which he explains that he intended the Sixth Symphony to be, “a matter more of feeling than of painting in sound.” Although one has to admit, the Storm movement really, really sounds like a storm.
Beethoven’s programmatic idea certainly wasn’t unprecedented. There had been programmatic pieces (with varying degree of description) for hundreds of years before. Beethoven was likely influenced by the oratorios of Haydn, and the lesser known composer Justin Heinrich Knecht, who wrote a symphony—_Le Portrait musical de la nature_—with similar movement titles.
When music is so beautiful and enjoyable, on some level, it does not matter where Beethoven got the inspiration to write the Sixth Symphony. We can just enjoy it for what it is. But, it is interesting to note just how influential the Symphony has been to later composers. The most obvious example is Hector Berlioz, whose five-movement programmatic monument, Symphonie Fantastique (1830, twenty-two years after the Sixth was written), owes its structure to the Beethovenian model.
Beethoven went out on a limb with the Pastoral Symphony. Generally, Beethoven was tight-lipped about what inspired him. He often let the music speak for itself. In being so explicit about the movement titles in the Sixth, and in the case of the Storm movement, so musically descriptive, Beethoven was trying something truly new and different for him. It is easy to see why so many composers who came after him looked to the Pastoral Symphony as a symphonic ideal. But you don’t have to let it inspire you to write programmatic music of your own; you can just sit back and enjoy a visit to the countryside.
Bring your umbrella.
1 comment
I really liked the breakdown of music into two categories, music that is programmatic and music that is just music. As a composer just finishing my course of studies at Napier, I found the encouragement to write "program" music frustrating (not that I'm opposed to such music - I certainly write some of my own, in fact my entire concert could be described as program music) - but there should also be times when music is just music.
Even in the case of program music, how the inspiration manifests itself can be quite obtuse - and for good reason - to allow the listener a chance to gain their own perspective. Again, siting my own music, my Symphony No 1 is based on figures of speech - but aren't designed to represent these figures of speech directly, but rather look at them musically. IMHO, this means changing the way we look at things, exchanging one idiom for another and thereby letting something new to come out.
Much like looking at the mountain from an airplane, rather than from the valley below. It may be the same mountain, but it has a whole new shape.