City folk in the countryside: In all of the five (!) movements of his sixth symphony, Beethoven transposes different impressions of nature into music. Nevertheless, his sixth symphony is not a mere depiction of naturalistic or folkloric scenes. While some of the titles of his movements – like »Scene by the Brook« or »Merry Gathering of Country Folk« – may suggest that, Beethoven’s notebooks reveal his true intent: »Pastoral symphony. Which does not refer to painting but to expressing the emotions felt by people enjoying the countryside ...« Beethoven was absolutely convinced that »painting was taken too far by instrumental music and any further attempt was doomed«.