BACKNational Walking Month
Did you know that May is National Walking Month? With the evenings now staying lighter for longer and with the intermittent. but improving, warmer weather, now is the time to get outside and go walking. Walking has many benefits, both for your physical and mental health so why not take some time to unwind with our classical walking playlist and choose a scenic spot to go for a walk?
Classical music is often inspired by the natural elements; from raging storms to a delicate breeze in a sunny meadow. This May, we will be sharing a few nature-inspired pieces with our readers, see more below.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral’
How is music and nature connected? In the case of Beethoven, Symphony ‘No.6, the Pastoral’ has grown to become music’s most famous storm of all, the fourth of the five movements in particular.
‘The idea is simple enough: the happily dancing peasantry in the Scherzo third movement are sent scurrying for cover by a thunderstorm in the fourth, and then emerge into rain-washed sunlit fields for the finale.’ – Malcolm Hayes
The first sketches of the Pastoral Symphony appeared in 1802, but Beethoven was not ready to complete it for a further six years. The most interesting aspect of the symphony is not that it has a descriptive programme – it doesn’t really, apart from a few picturesque moments like the slow-movement bird calls and the storm – nor that it is in five movements (debatable, even though Beethoven suggests it). It is the way the music is put together, completely unprecedented and virtually unfollowed.