I. Allegro vivace e con brio II. Allegretto scherzando III. Tempo di Menuetto IV. Allegro vivace

The Eighth Symphony followed directly after the Seventh, and by Beethoven’s own standards was written at remarkable speed. It was completed by October 1812 and premiered in 1814 together with the Seventh Symphony. The popularity of the latter work overshadowed the new one and Beethoven angrily noted the Eighth symphony did not please the audience because it was so much better than the other work. “Some day they will like it,” he growled. Robert Schumann sensed the exceptional value of the “small symphony.” In 1840, following a Leipzig concert, he express it thus: “Of Beethoven’s symphonies, the F major is the least played, even in Leipzig, where all Beethoven’s symphonies are hugely popular, there are prejudices against it, but for the profundity of its humour, it has no competition from any of his other symphonies. Towards the end of the finale we find a tremendous climax which has few parallels in Beethoven’s oeuvre and hearing the B flat major Allegretto, one can do nothing except listen and submerge oneself in happiness. The orchestra was truly splendid: even the delicate trio with its melancholic horn melody succeeded perfectly.”

In the scherzo like Allegretto mentioned by Schumann (the symphony has no true slow movement) Beethoven employs the same melody which he used in the jokey canon he wrote for Mälzel the creator of the metronome. The archaic tone of the third movement is also notable. In the trio, we hear the relic of a much earlier composition, the melody of a minuet Beethoven wrote for two flutes in 1792. We do not know if this is conscious or accidental, but the charming mood of this episode fits well with the slightly ancient quasi-minuet, the orchestration (horn, clarinet and cello) evoking the works of 18th century household music making.

Beethoven composed an immense finale considering the work’s proportions. “With the exception of the similarly dynamic finale to the Seventh Symphony, Beethoven wrote no other symphonic movement in which he let go to such an extent with his unstoppable  boisterous temperament.” (Dénes Bartha)