Pastorale
Music imitating shepherds' pipes — 6/8 or 12/8, calm, with a drone
Related
A pastorale imitates shepherds' pipes: often 6/8 or 12/8, a drone and a simple melody, painting a calm countryside. It can be a standalone genre or a movement within an opera, oratorio or concerto (the pastoral movement of the Christmas Concerto, say).
It is close to the siciliana: both often use 6/8 and a swaying rhythm, but the pastorale stresses bagpipe-like drone and scene. The usual mistake is to assume a pastorale is slow — it can be moderate; the point is pastoral breathing and the drone.
Read deeper → siciliana
Sources
- 田园曲的性格特征与圣诞协奏曲传统，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Pastorale"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.