# Favorite Pastoral Pieces



## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

Beethoven's 6th symphony, Rossini's _Guillaume Tell _overture, Strauss's _Eine Alpensinfonie_, and Weber's _Der Freischütz _among others are all very good pieces that effectively create a countryside/nature type of mood. What are some other pieces you like that give a similar atmosphere?


----------



## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Vaughan Williams' Fifth Symphony
Goldmarck's "Rustic Wedding" Symphony
The Grand Canyon Suite (Grofe)
Caucasian Sketches (Ippolitov-Ivanov)
Parts of Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage


----------



## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Copland's ballet "Rodeo" and opera "A Tender Land".


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Vaughan Williams' Third Symphony


----------



## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Mahler 3 (I-II-III), Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Bruckner 5
Sibelius 2
Bartok, Romanian folk dances
Canteloube, Chants d'Auvergne


----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

A "precursor" to Beethoven's 6th:


----------



## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Vaughan Williams 3rd, Beethoven's 6th, Bach's Pastorale in F major.


----------



## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

Arnold Bax - Symphonic Poem _November Woods_
Alexander Borodin - _In the Steppes of Central Asia_
Ralph Vaughan Williams - _In the Fen Country_


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Sibelius - Tapiola. Lots of Vaughan Williams, lots of Bax. And does the sea count? If so then Debussy (La Mer).


----------



## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Copland - Appalachian Spring and The Red Pony Suite


----------



## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Grovers Corners
Down A Country Lane
A Letter From Home

All three are by Copland.


----------



## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Also if you want an individual movement, the 2nd movement of Dvorak's NWS will do it. The Bernstein/Israel Phil recording is freaking 18 minutes long! It shouldn't be your only recording of the NWS but it is definitely an interpretation like no other I've heard.


----------



## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 3 and 5; plus, The Lark Ascending
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Grieg: "Morning Mood" from Peer Gynt
Dvorak: Symphony No. 8 and Silent Woods
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun


----------



## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

It's hard to say what is meant by "pastoral". The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is Beethoven's wonderful _Symphony #6 "Pastorale"_, Copland's _Appalachian Spring_, as well as certain pieces by Vaughan Williams, Delius, Hovhaness, and others among the usual suspects already mentioned by others on this thread. But is the music really "pastoral" or do the titles of the pieces make it so? I always thought that Sibelius and Bruckner evoke the majesty of the countryside, big trees, cools lakes, and powerful mountains, or is that just because the photograph on the cover of the album/CD has conditioned me to make the association?

How about turning the question around the least pastorale composition? What would that be? To me Gershwin's _Rhapsody in Blue_ best exemplifies the hustle and bustle of urban life.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

“Pastoral symphony” in Handel’s Messiah. Bach also wrote a relatively trivial but very beautiful Pastorale for organ.


----------



## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

Coach G said:


> How about turning the question around the least pastorale composition? What would that be? To me Gershwin's _Rhapsody in Blue_ best exemplifies the hustle and bustle of urban life.


Arthur Honegger's Pacific 231 perhaps?


----------



## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

A lovely miniature: Honegger's _Pastorale d'été_.


----------



## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> "Pastoral symphony" in Handel's Messiah. Bach also wrote a relatively trivial but very beautiful Pastorale for organ.


There's also this by Bach:




I also love Beethoven's Op. 28 piano sonata, although I don't know if it was intended to be a "pastorale".


----------



## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Barenboim's first recording approaches it very much in that vein IMHO. It's too slow in places, but I can't help enjoying it.


----------



## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

MusicSybarite said:


> A lovely miniature: Honegger's _Pastorale d'été_.


A wonderful piece that embodies the whole notion of 'pastoral' ( well, at lest as far as I am concerned!)


----------



## DLOinQUEENS (Nov 22, 2018)

For something off the beaten path, definitely try August Klughardt’s buoyant 3rd symphony. It’s bursting with folksy, county-fairish melodies crafted to uplift a weary spirit.


----------

