| Beethoven, Siepmann, Esterhazy Sinfonia
Classics Explained: Pastoral Symphony
Genres: Special Interest, Classical
 Track Listings (82) - Disc #1- On Beethoven's Openings
- Opening Phrase Of The 'Pastoral': Mood, Symbolism And Musical Function
- Musical Acorns: The Outline Of Melody; the Shape Of A Question
- The 'Question' In The 'Pastoral' Repeated...
- ...And Answered
- The Opening Phrase Ends On A Note Full Of Pregnant Expectation
- Starting With A Stop
- The Rhythmic Profile Of The Opening Phrase; A Two-Part Construction
- Phrase One, Part One
- Phrase One, Part Two
- The Properties Of Rhythmic Ambiguity; The 'Question' Of Phrase One Answered
- Phrase Two: From Meander To March
- The Makings Of A Conversation: Contrast And Variation
- Repetition As A Major Factor, But It's Never Mere Repetition; Each Time Something New Is Added
- From Soft To loud And Back Again; Instrumental Enrichment From Horns And Double-Basses
- Mega-Repetition: Violins Play Exactly The Same Little Fragment Ten Times In A Row
- but No Two Repetitions Are Quite The Same; Variaties Of Contrast
- More Variation; Pitch Rises; Violins Joined First By The Clarinet, Then By The Oboe
- Return To Opening Idea, but With New InstrumentationAnd Articulation
- Clarinets, Horns, Bassoons And Flutes Now Join Expansive Variation
- 'New' Insistent Rhythm Derived From The First Four Notes Of The Piece
- With The Dawn Chorus, A Whole Forest Is Waking Up; Feelings Of Rapture
- First Violins Play A Derivative Of The Opening Figure, Joined By Wind And Strings
- Sudden Change Of Key, From The Home Key (Tonic) To The Dominant
- Arrival At The Highly Contrasting Second Main Theme
- Unusual Properties Of Second Main Theme
- Rhythmic Clash Between Simultaneous Groups Of Three Beats And Groups Of Two
- Winds Fall Silent As The Violins And Violas Interrupt With A New Theme
- Winds Answer With the Same Morse-Like Rhythm, But At Half The Speed
- Crescendo Leads To Strings' Acceleration Of The Pace With No Increase In Tempo
- Beginning Of Coda, Directly Based On Morse-Like Rhythm Of The Main Theme
- Strings Reiterate Small FragmentOf The New Theme 13 Times In A Row
- A Simple, Rising Violin Phrase Leads To A Repeat Of The Exposition
- The Nature And Function Of The Development Section In Sonata Form; 'Harmonic' Rhythm Explained
- The Nature Of Harmonic Rhythm Illustrated
- A Typically Beethovenian Exercise In The Frustration Of Expectation
- Repetitiousness And Magic Effected Largely Through Instrumental Colour
- Then Come Four, Almost Identical Bars
- Even Greater Magic, With Sudden Switch Of Key And Tone Colour
- Entire Development Section Up To This Point
- The Development Continued
- Increased Unease And Suspense As Harmonic Rhythm Accelerates
- Arrival At The Point Of Recapitualtion; Back To The Beginning, As A Reminder
- Beginning Of Recapitulation
- More Beethovenian Frustrations Of Expectations Which He Himself Has Just Set Up
- Harmonic Rhythm Speeds Up, Giving The Impression Of An Accent On Every Beat
- Prevailing Mood Restored; New ThemeFrom Clarinets And Bassoons
- Violins And Violas Take Up Theme; Horns, Cellos, Double-Basses Accompany
- A Hush Falls, Followed By A Return Of The Movement's Most Familiar Tag In Strings
- Clarinet Takes Up The Running Triplet Figures Of The Main Closing Theme
- First Violins Take Up The Opening Phrase Again, Accompanied By Double-Basses
- Beethoven Slips In One Last Surprise; Cue To Complete Movement
- First Movement (Complete)
- General Introduction; the Birth Of A Melody
- Brook Music Quickens; Syncopated Horns; Themes Change Hands; Evocation Of Birdsong
- The 'Mottl' theme Introduced By Violins And Treated To Round-Like Overlappings
- Transitional 'Bridge' Theme Sets Off For New Key Group. But Is It? And Does It?
- Will He, or Won't He? Beethoven Keeps Us Guessing
- The Run-Up To The Second Group
- Arrival At The Second Group; But Where Is The Actual Second Subject?
- A New Tune Is Introduced By The Bassoon
- Tune Is Repeated Three Times
- ...Which The Full Orchestra Now Takes Up In Varied Form
- Theme Carried By Flutes And First Violins In A CharminglyWaltz-Like Development
- A Reminder Of Precedent
- Back To The Prevailing Triple-Metre With Violins, Bassoons And Flutes
- Another Reminder Of Precedent...
- ... And A Cue To Some Unexpected Departures
- The Transformational Magic Of Beethoven's Tone-Painting - And A New Variation
- Conversation Of Clarinet, Flute And Oboe On The Way To The Development
- Harmonic Movement Emphasised By Violins; Oboe Takes Up The First Subject
- Flute And Oboe Discuss The First Subject, Before Arriving Together At The Transistion
- Gains In Volume And Intensity Lead To A New Key-Change
- More Thematic Transformation Through The Agency Of Tone-Colour
- Harmonic Fluidity - Instability - As The Central Engine Of The Development Section
- Harmonic Instability, Thematic Dissolution Increase, Then Lessen With Approach Of Recapitulation
- Recap. And Transformation: Key And Material Are Right, But What A Change Of Presentation!
- Just When We Know What's Coming, Beethoven Changes The Rules (Or At Least The Harmony)
- Transformation By Reorchestration; Switch To Long Sustained Chords; Then Everything Stops
- The Silence is Broken By Voices Of Nightingale (Flute), Quail (Oboe), And Cuckoo (Clarinet)
- First Violins Bring Back Motto Theme
- Cue To Complete Movement On CD 2
- Track Listings (43) - Disc #2
- Second Movement (Complete)
- Beethoven And The Scherzo: An Introduction; Part One Of Opening Phrase Taken By The Strings
- Immediate Response: Part One Is Answered By A Much More Singing, Continous Legato
- Entire Orchestra Gives Out Opening Theme, This Time Fortissimo And With Powerful Accents
- A Musical Ball Game. The Contrast Of This And The First Two Movements Could Hardly Be Greater
- After Quietly Teasing Suspense, Beethoven Mocks Village Band, First The Oboe, Then The Bassoon
- Clarinet Joins In, Then Horn Takes The Tune - The Dance No Longer Boisterous But Lyrical
- Strings Sweep The Village Musicians Aside And Hurtle Us Into The New, Boisterous 'Trio' Section
- The Air Is Alive With The Sound Of (Mock) Bagpipes, Tambourines And Fifes
- Coda; Begins As The Movement Itself Begins, But Soon Diverges In Harmony And Instrumentation
- Original Layout Compressed; Order Of Events Is Changed And Beethoven Springs A Big Surprise
- Third Movement (Complete)
- Unparalleled Portrait Of Nature's Power Over Humanity, With Some Stupendous Orchestration
- Self-Generating Form And Terror Of Total Unpredictability; 'Anxiety Motif' From The Violins
- The 'Lashing Rain' Motif - Downward-Driving Arpeggios From The First Violins And Violas
- The 'Lightning' Motif, And Its Recurrence Later In The Movement
- 'Rain' Motif, Derived From Descending Scale Pattern From The Violins At The Outset
- Shivering Tremolandos From The Strings And Increasingly Eerie Harmonies From The Wind
- Steady Crescendo In Strings; Terrifying, Downward Spelling-out Of Chords in The Violins
- Extremes Of Dynamic Contrasts; The Unsettling, Disturbing, Undermining Effects of Chromaticism
- Abandonment Of Melody, And Most Traces Even Of Rhythm; Sustained, Discordant Harmony
- Storm Dispersed, The Sun Reappears, Bathing Sodden Earth Below With Its Life-Giving Rays
- Cue To Complete Performance Of Fourth Movement
- Fourth Movement (Complete)
- 'Yodelling' Figure From Clarinet, Then Horn, Then Violins, Who Introduce The Main Theme
- Details Of Instrumental Magic In The Interplay Of Horns, Cellos, Clarinets And Bassoons
- Main Theme Heard Three Times In A Row
- Now We Get The Whole Orchestra, Playing Full Out, With Violins All Double-Stopping
- Transition To The Next Section, Based On The Last Two Notes of The Main Theme
- The Rhythmic Basis Of New Transition Theme, First in Violas, Then Taken Up By First Violins
- Another Rhythmic Detail Of Extended Transition Comes Increasingly Into The Foreground
- ...And Is Then heard In Expanded Version, Taken in Sequence By The Strings, From The Top Down
- New Phrase, introduced By Violins, Brings us Resoundingly Back To The Opening material
- Main Theme, Re-Orchestrated; Unexpected Drift Into Another Key And A New, Gently Flowing Theme
- Hints Of A Return To Main Theme; long 'Pedal point'; Running Commentary From The Violins
- main Theme Returns, But Significantly Altered, And Not Entirely Intact
- Running Commentary Now Heard In The Middle, With Alternating Pizzicatos Both Above And Below
- Part Three Of Main Theme Given To The Entire Orchestra, leading To Final Appearance Of Theme Two
- Extended Coda; Overlapping Variations Of Main theme, rather In The Manner Of A Round
- Suddenly The Scene Changes. A Variation Of The Running Commentary Cited In Tracks 34 And 36
- The Crowning Glory, As The Shepherd's Song Of Thanksgiving Takes On A 'Heavenly' Magnificence
- Cue Into Complete Performance Of Fifth Movement Through The 'Gateway' Of The Fourth
- Fourth And Fifth Movements (Complete)
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