CD Review:
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven’s 6th/Steven Stucky’s “Silent Spring”

by Caleb Gardner (Photo credit: Reference Recordings)

Where does a work of great art exist? In the mind of its maker? In the original medium it was intended for, using materials its creator would have approved of? Or do all versions of a piece give the original more meaning?

How one answers those questions may contribute to how much they enjoy the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s 2022 version of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, which is paired with Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring on a new recording.

Beethoven’s announced intent with the Sixth Symphony was to present natural sounds—birds, rain, and thunder. Such a straightforward goal has often caused music directors to take liberties with the score and the arrangement. Manfred Honeck, conductor of the PSO, describes just such an approach in the detailed program notes which accompany the recording. Discussing the difficulty of bringing out the birdsong intended by flutes from the surrounding texture, Honeck says: “I have therefore amplified the flutes by adding the piccolo to this line.” In another case he “asked the woodwinds to follow the typical phrasing of what we now know as a yodel…” In a few other instances he indicates changes in dynamic markings, tempo adjustments, and even requests his musicians to “stamp along with their feet exactly on these repeated sforzati with the goal to acoustically imitate the fervor of the peasants.”

It would be easier to take issue with Honeck’s methods if the result was less impressive, but his thoughtful enhancement of textures renders the Sixth Symphony’s nature effects more vividly. Precisely because the intent is to create the sound of nature, the piece responds well to the unorthodox, organic tinkering of Honeck and the orchestra. The result is captured and mixed by the Soundmirror team of Boston, who were nominated for a GRAMMY Award in recognition of their hyper-detailed, balanced production of power and nuance.

Beethoven’s Sixth is packaged with a recording of Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring, an engrossing modern work which unsparingly contemplates the environmental collapse Rachel Carson predicted in the book of the same name. It provides a brutal, chilling contrast to Beethoven’s nineteenth-century outlook on the natural world.

Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony have created a recording of exquisite quality, an imaginative production which matches the intent of the composer to create an organic rendering of the “cheerful feelings of arriving in the country.” Even if some of the liberties could be considered, at worst, minor distractions, those are noticeable by only score-studying purists. It is difficult to imagine Beethoven—an artist with an endless propensity for re-arranging, improvising, and pushing against all that was orthodox—not appreciating the effort.