Beethoven: Symphony No.6 'Pastoral', 1st mvt

‘No-one can love the countryside as much as I do,’ wrote Beethoven.

He loved the countryside so much he wrote an entire symphony dedicated to it. This first movement to Beethoven’s Sixth ‘Pastoral’ Symphony is titled: Pleasant, cheerful feelings which awaken in one on arrival in the countryside. The composer loved to go for long walks among the hills and woods surrounding Vienna and often holidayed in countryside villages in the summertime.

Beethoven once said about this piece: ‘Anyone who has even just an idea of country life can imagine what the author [intends], without many headings.’

Nicholas Collon’s Aurora Orchestra is among the most exciting of Britain’s new ensembles and in this Prom they performed Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony entirely from memory.