The Merry Meeting of Country Folk

Here, ladies and gentlemen, we have the third movement (which was nicknamed "The Merry Meeting of Country Folk" by the composer) of Beethoven's ode to nature, his "Pastoral" Symphony (#6). This symphony was written at just about the same time as his fifth one, nicknamed "Fate," which is sort of strange because of how different in tone they are. I read somewhere that the only reason they were numbered as they are is because of their concert order when they debuted. But in any case, if any of you didn't know, Beethoven adored nature - he and Thoreau probably would have been good pals. In a letter to the Baroness von Drossidick, he said, "How happy I am to be able to wander among bushes and herbs, under trees and over rocks; no man can love the country as I love it. Woods, trees and rocks send back the echo that man desires." And later, in 1814, he said, "My miserable hearing does not trouble me here. In the country it seems as if every tree said to me: 'Holy! holy!' Who can give complete expression to the ecstasy of the woods! O, the sweet stillness of the woods!"
The Pastoral Symphony was his attempt to channel the joy he felt out in nature. Enjoy one of the more upbeat movements in the piece, played by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Bernard Haitink.