8mm Forum: Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (Fantasia, 1940)

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 11, 2008, 12:10 PM:

Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (Color, Derann Film Services)
Part 1: Pastoral Symphony, The Flying Horse extract from “Fantasia” (1x200’)
Part 2: Pastoral Symphony #2 Extract from “Fantasia” (1x400’)

Ludwig Van Beethoven!

-always portrayed scowling, increasingly deaf with age, allegedly more than a little crazy as he grew older: certainly not a happy camper. Yet beneath it all he must have had a beautiful soul because of the music he left us. It is rich with moods: love, agony, joy, sadness, victory, fury, peacefulness. They say that great art comes from great pain. Perhaps years of being the only one in the hall who couldn’t hear his own music is what it took to produce this body of work.

He couldn’t even imagine our times: how would he have felt knowing today he’s still listened to daily and enjoyed through media he could never anticipate? Would he like "Fantasia"? Being that he’s been honored in both “Fantasia” and “Fantasia 2000” I hope that scowl might crack even a little smile, maybe when nobody was looking.

The Pastoral Symphony was originally inspired by Beethoven’s long walks in the countryside around Vienna, and is representative of the joys of nature and country life. It is in these five movements:

Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country

Scene by the brook (-sounds like it was meant to be a film!)

Happy gathering of country folk

Thunderstorm; Storm

Shepherd's song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm

The country in question is Austria. The release date of the original "Fantasia" is 1940, when Austria would have been under Hitler for two years. Disney very skillfully side-stepped this uncomfortable fact by not only changing the setting over to scenes from ancient mythology but when explaining the change of venue, the narrator says originally the music “was about the country with which Beethoven was familiar” without getting any more specific (…or any less awkward) than that. This kind of stuff happens all the time: For example, when Fidel set up shop in Havana, Ricky Ricardo suddenly became a Mexican!

This is a great piece of animation! -or is it really two great pieces? Derann’s print of the Pastoral Symphony is divided up into a 200 footer and a 400 footer. The 200 footer begins with the narrator introducing the (optical) “sound track”. It sneaks out from under the gate and into the middle of the screen and then squiggles to the sounds. It’s a good thing it’s not supposed to be a mag track or it would just sit there like a fat line! The rest of this reel is entirely “Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country” and it is scenes of Pegasuses (“Pegasi”?) and Cherubs at play. It has this wacky looking defect of a light colored streak appearing under black images. It’s not unique to the 8mm print though: I have seen it in every video presentation of "Fantasia" I’ve ever seen as well. This reel stands alone nicely and is definitely the one to buy first.

The 400 footer is the entire rest of the symphony. There is an unforgettable sequence of a thunderstorm with Zeus himself throwing lightning bolts at Bacchus, who is simply too drunk to get out of the way (…would they have shown this during Prohibition 8 years earlier?). The ending is wonderful and calm.

The break in the reels corresponds to a reel change in the theatrical print, and the beginning of the 400 footer is a little rainy, but quickly recovers.

Long ago my two reels were united as one 600 footer. It works perfectly that way. The full 600 feet gives me something I can start and then stretch out on the couch and enjoy. Very often when I’m too lazy to show a couple of shorter reels this is what I choose.

The sound is crisp and the level as fine, but my print has an occasional wow in the second reel that can bother me a little if I focus my attention on it. I’ve never had a guest point it out, so it can’t be that bad. (…many of my guests aren’t that polite!)

The greatness of this sequence is that it sticks with you: very typically the next day I find that music in my head and in this case that’s a good thing!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 11, 2008, 06:55 PM:

Great review as usual, Steve.

If you have the film, could you do a review of the "Waltz of the Flowers"?

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 11, 2008, 10:09 PM:

Hi Osi,

Thanks!

Isn't that "Dance of the Hours"?

Sorry, I don't have that one. (Maybe someday...)

[ September 12, 2008, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: Steve Klare ]

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