David Robertson conducts Beethoven’s “Pastoral”

Beethoven associated nature, a symbolic counterpart to civilisation, with a state of inner peace – something which can be heard in almost every bar of his Sinfonia pastorale. In the symphony, Beethoven composed a tapestry of idyllic rural scenes: from “Arriving in the Country” to the scene “By the Brook”, the “Peasant Merrymaking” to the tempestuous summer thunderstorm, and the final “Shepherds’ Song” with its playful echoes. The work is the starting point of a programme that raises awareness of nature and its dangers.

Edgard Varèse’s epic tone poem Arcana – a visionary homage to the alchemist doctor and philosopher Paracelsus – is not about the effect of nature on man, but about the secrets that determine its laws: Arcana are the means of the secret sciences that help to open up worlds that normally remain hidden to man. Around 120 musicians are required in order to perform the work, which, according to musicologist Helga de la Motte-Haber, presents itself with its powerful eruptions as an “irrevocable, dizzying departure of sound into space”.

In his orchestral piece Superorganisms, dedicated to the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Czech composer Miroslav Srnka explores a “multiplication of the positive power of individuals” (Srnka): the fascinating phenomenon of swarm intelligence. The subtext of this search for consonance conveys a socio-political vision of the utmost topicality: the synergetic co-operation of mankind, as “our way of life in its present form will not be possible for much longer”, according to Srnka.

Berliner Philharmoniker

David Robertson