“The symphony that Beethoven called the "Pastoral", his sixth, is one of the few pieces of music he ever wrote that tells something like a definite story. He was a great nature lover, and in this symphony, he paints a musical picture of a day in the country. Of course, the country that Beethoven described was the countryside with which he was familiar. But his music covers a much wider field than that, and so Walt Disney has given the "Pastoral Symphony" a mythological setting, and the setting is of Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods. And here, first of all, we meet a group of fabulous creatures of the field and forest: unicorns, fawns, Pegasus the flying horse and his entire family, the centaurs, those strange creatures that are half man and half horse, and their girlfriends, the centaurettes. Later on, we meet our old friend Bacchus, the god of wine, presiding over a bacchanal. The party is interrupted by a storm, and now we see Vulcan forging thunderbolts and handing them over to the king of all the gods, Zeus, who plays darts with them. As the storm clears, we see Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, and Apollo, driving his sun chariot across the sky. And then Morpheus, the god of sleep, covers everything with his cloak of night as Diana, using the new moon as a bow, shoots an arrow of fire that spangles the sky with stars.”
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as The Pastoral Symphony, is the fifth segment of Fantasia. It utilized delicate color styling to depict a mythical ancient Greek world of centaurs, families of Pegasus, the Gods of Mount Olympus, fauns, cupids, and other legendary creatures and characters of classical mythology. It tells the story of the mythological creatures gathering for a festival to honor Bacchus, the god of wine riding his horned donkey, Jacchus; the bacchanal is disturbed by Zeus, who decides to have a little fun by throwing thunderbolts at the attendees.
Credits[]
Musical score: Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 "Pastorale"
Animation: Berny Wolf, Jack Campbell, Jack Bradbury, James Moore, Milt Neil, Bill Justice, John Elliotte, Walt Kelly, Don Lusk, Lynn Karp, Murray McClellan, Robert W. Youngquist, and Harry Hamsel
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral") , Op. 68, I Allegro ma non troppo-2
Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral") , Op. 68, II Andante molto mosso-2
