Beethoven - Symphony No. 6

Beethoven - Symphony No. 6

In honor of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th anniversary in 2020, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería performed Beethoven’s symphonic cycle at the Academia de Música del Palacio de Minería in Mexico City in 2019. Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto leads the orchestra in this performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68. Prieto has been serving as music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería since 2008, and is considered the foremost Mexican conductor of his generation. Beethoven composed his Symphony “Pastorale” immediately after his Symphony No. 5. Both symphonies were premiered at the Theater an der Wien, on December 22, 1808. Instead of four movements – a formal characteristic of symphonies written before Beethoven’s time – his Pastoral Symphony consists of five movements, each bearing a programmatic title that suggests a scene from life in the country. Beethoven loved spending time in nature, where he frequently composed music. In the Andante movement of his Pastoral Symphony ("Scene by the brook") the flute, oboe, and two clarinets play harmoniously when imitating the call of three birds: nightingale (flute), quail (oboe), and cuckoo (clarinets).