Beethoven’s Storm (6th symphony)

Beethoven’s 6th symphony features one of the first musical storms ever written. It features musical depictions of – 

·       Wind – swirling scales rushing up and down (scroll to 2’08)

·       Rain - short ‘next-door notes’ played by the violins at the beginning

·       Thunder – scary rumbles from the basses and cellos (scroll to 0’56)

·       Lightning -  a low note followed very soon after by a high note (scroll to 0’58)

For this task you need paper and art materials. Place the paper (the bigger, the better) landscape (longest side top and bottom) on your table. Think of the left side of the page as the beginning of the storm and the right side as the end (you could even write ‘start’ and ‘end’ lightly in pencil to help you remember

  

1.     Think about what happens during a storm. The four main elements are listed above. Draw a simple symbol to represent each element, perhaps using a different colour for each one. Make a small ‘key’ at the top of your page explaining your symbols

2.     Listen to Beethoven’s Storm (below). Begin with the lightning. Can you spot it within the music? There are about 14  flashes of lightning in this piece.

3.     Listen again and every time you hear the lightning draw its symbol on your page. Try to dot these ‘lightning bolts’ around the page. If they are near the beginning of the storm place them towards the left, if they are near the end, place them towards the right

4.     Listen again and this time add in your symbol for thunder. Can you place these in relation to the lightning?

5.     Listen for a 4th time and add the wind and rain until you have made a picture of a storm. By now you probably know the shape of the piece quite well, can you make your artwork match the music with a peak somewhere in the middle and then a calmer section towards the end? 

6.     Finally, listen once more and pay particular attention to the ending. Beethoven adds a new musical idea at this point - an upwards scale from the flute (scroll to 3’40). What does that represent? Can you add it onto your picture?

To turn these ideas into music, download the ‘How to Build an Orchestra’ teachers’ pack by clicking on the link below.

Here’s my attempt, yours will be better and remember THERE’S NO WRONG ANSWER!!