Beethoven Festival: Symphonies 4 & 6

Beethoven’s most feel-good symphonies make up the middle of our Festival fortnight. The lightness of the Fourth and the escape to the country of the Sixth are musical self-care of the highest order!

Schumann described Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony as ‘a slender Greek maiden between two Nordic giants’ – those giants being the heroic third and epic fifth symphonies. In contrast, the Fourth’s dancing lightness gives it a quality akin to chamber music, filled with gentle humour and elegant melodies.

A keen rambler, Beethoven’s joyful Pastoral Symphony takes its inspiration from nature. The composer takes us on a country walk to enjoy babbling brooks, birdsong, country dancing, and caps it off with a thunderstorm. This peaceful invocation of open space, sunshine, and clean air is immersive, musical escapism for city-dwellers at its finest.