Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93

Program notes

About the Work

Beethoven’s Eighth is the sunniest and most compact of his symphonies; he affectionately called it ‘my little Symphony in F,’ to distinguish it from the longer ‘Pastoral’ Sixth in the same key. He wrote it in the summer of 1812, immediately after the mighty Seventh, and where that work is grand and Dionysian, the Eighth is witty, genial and full of high spirits, a deliberate look back to the elegance and proportion of Haydn and Mozart, though shot through with Beethovenian muscle, surprise and humour. It received its premiere in Vienna in 1814, on a programme that also included the Seventh; the audience, perhaps expecting another grand statement, gave it only a polite reception, which annoyed Beethoven, who insisted it was ‘much better’ than its hugely popular predecessor.

The Eighth is the work of a composer relaxing and having fun, but its apparent lightness conceals tremendous craft and no small eccentricity. It is full of jokes: sudden violent accents, comic stops and starts, a ‘metronome’ joke, and a finale of irrepressible energy with one of the most outrageous surprises in any symphony. Short, brilliant and good-humoured, it makes a joyous close to the concert.

What to Listen For

The first movement bursts straight in, without introduction, on a genial, dancing theme. Listen for its Haydnesque good humour, but also for the sudden, almost violent sforzando accents and dynamic surprises that are pure Beethoven.

The second movement is one of his great musical jokes: a fast, ticking Allegretto scherzando, said to parody the steady tick of the newly invented metronome, a nod to Beethoven’s friend Mälzel, its inventor. Listen for the staccato ‘tick-tock’ chords in the winds under the chattering tune. In place of a slow movement, the third is an old-fashioned, slightly gruff Tempo di Menuetto, with a lovely horn-and-clarinet trio. The finale is a whirlwind of energy. Listen, partway through, for the notorious moment when a single loud, ‘wrong’ note (a sudden bark of C-sharp) erupts out of nowhere, derailing the music; Beethoven keeps returning to and ‘explaining’ this joke right up to the riotous, hammered-home ending.