Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 'Pastoral'

Of all his nine symphonies it is the 5th that has come to epitomise Beethoven as the artist whose life was one relentless struggle with Fate and the hostilities of life. There is little doubt that the deafness (which by the time Beethoven composed the 5th in 1804/5 had become total) contributed to the sense of struggle, with the composer increasingly cut off from the world of conversation and music. By contrast the Sixth is a depiction of nature, and the joy of the composer at being in the countryside and at one with nature and her creatures. He said that the 6th ‘was more an impression of feeling than painting’. It is therefore a precursor to what would become known as a ‘tone poem’ later in the century.

This disc is as much about the art of balance engineer Kenneth E. Wilkinson as it is about the conducting style of Charles Munch. "Wilke" as he was known to his colleagues, came to Decca along with Chief Engineer Arthur Haddy when Decca purchased Crystalate Records in 1937. While Haddy concentrated on improving the technology of recording Wilkinson developed the art of placing microphones in a hall to enable the recording to have sufficient presence from the auditorium without overwhelming the orchestral sound. Charles Gerhardt, an RCA producer who often worked with Wilkinson, expressed the view that the Ravel released here for the first time on compact discs was the best recording of Daphnis et Chloe Suites ever made.