Nicole Paulet Piedra
Music SL – Y code
BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL SYMPHONY
Fourth Movement, Lightning and Thunderstorm: Allegro
The definition of music as we know today would not have been the same without the exceptional composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (Vienna, 1712-1827). He marked the Classical period with his innovative exploration of the human soul capable of transforming his passion into pieces, taking the power of music to a different level. One of his most dramatic works is the Pastoral Symphony (1806), whose fourth movement “Lightning and Thunderstorm: Allegro” perfectly illustrates Beethoven’s mastery in the concept of impressionism. In this essay, I will analyze the musical features he uses and the images he creates in this movement to represent the sequential events during a thunderstorm.
Bar 1-18
The piece starts with the violoncello and the contrabass introducing the turbulence of a thunderstorm through sustained tremolo notes in piano dynamics. The tension it creates is constantly recalled throughout the movement to maintain the sense of urgency in the audience. The storm has not started yet, but drizzle has started to fall. This effect is created by the eight note scales in D flat major in the second violin. When the first violin comes in with a three note motif of diminished fifth and minor second intervals, a heavy rainfall has begun. The repetition of this motif, modulated to a minor key, anticipates the upcoming instability in nature. The violoncello and contrabass reappear more steadily with an increasing tension in their tremolo turbulence, as the woodwinds recreate power of the wind. There is a big crescendo when the full orchestra, like the storm, starts to build up. The sound of the rain and wind, in addition to the tension in the bass reappear even more strongly.
