At the Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, 2010 Giora Schmidt - violin Zuill Bailey - cello Navah Perlman - piano Itzhak Perlman - conductor Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral" 0:10 I. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande: Allegro ma non troppo 10:14 II. Szene am Bach: Andante molto mosso 22:49 III. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute: Allegro 28:40 IV. Gewitter, Sturm: Allegro 32:23 V. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm: Allegreto Watch the other performances of the Beethoven's concert in Tel Aviv: https://goo.gl/w2bZz3 Subscribe to EuroArts: https://goo.gl/jrui3M After the composer had initially referred to the Sixth Symphony as Sinfonia caracteristica and Sinfonia pastorella, by the time of printing he called it "Pastoral" Symphony or "Remembrance of Country Life" and added in brackets "More the expression of feelings than painting". It was a premiered in the Theater an der Wien on the 22 December 1808 under the direction of the composer, who dedicated the piece to Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz and the Russian Earl Rasumowskij. As early as the first beats of the first movement ("Pleasant, cheerful feelings on approaching the countryside"), the joyfulness and glee are clearly to be seen, feelings which dominate the whole movement. Were one to listen closer, one could almost hear the birdsong. In the second movement ("Scene by the brook") a quiet and gentle thema sounds over the regular rush of the stream, a theme that in the suite is varied in the orchestra section in various ways. In the coda to the movement, the woodwind section imitates the call of the nightingale, the quail, and the cuckoo. The third movement ("Happy gathering of villagers") is kept quite short. After a dancing orchestra theme, the wind instruments, in a chamber music passage, appear one by one and present their skills, until once again the orchestra wins the overhand. This sequence is repeated once and the the accompanying coda goes directly into the dramatic fourth movement ("Thunder-storm") and ends the party of the country folk. At the beginning of the final movement ("Shepherds" song: Grateful thanks to the Almighty after the storm") the horn finally sounds the famous shepherd's call, which ceremoniusly closes the symphony.