Beethoven’s eighth symphony is written F major and was composed and premiered in 1812. Beethoven fondly calls it his “little symphony” as it is the shortest of his 9 complete works. His eighth is characterized by a much more lighthearted tone when compared to that of his seventh and fifth. The piece is riddled with musical jokes and accented passages, alluding to a sense of humor and happiness.
The premiere took place on 27 February 1814, at a concert in Vienna, at which the Seventh Symphony (which had been premiered two months earlier) was also played. Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time, but nevertheless led the premiere. Reportedly, “the orchestra largely ignored his ungainly gestures and followed the first violin instead.
The first movement, Allegro Vivace, starts with the home chord of F major and begins a lively tune in 3/4. Like almost all of his works, the movement is written in sonata form. When the development section starts, a variety of eighth note runs are played in rapid succession going into a coda section. In the coda, the winds take a solid lead and push for an F chord that lands on a C chord, the dominant of F. The movement ends with a resounding sound back in the tonic chord, resolving the movement system.
The second movement, Scherzando, is played at a much faster tempo than the first. The movement is characterized with a much lighter tone than the rest of the symphony. It starts with rapid notes in the upper strings and imitations of bird noises in the woodwinds. The movement then moves into a staccato section, with altercations in accented notes. The accented notes play into this idea of “musical jokes”. Because of the direct contrast that this articulation has with more serious and somber tones, seasoned audience members tend to chuckle during performances of these specific sections.
The third movement, Menuetto, is slower than the 2nd movement. Like in most minuets, this one is written in ternary form, with a contrasting trio section containing prized solos for horns and clarinet. The movement is also recognized by a continuing pattern of triplets.
The fourth movement, Allegro Vivace, puts together all the thematic material we heard in the preceding movements into one unique blend. The idea of musical humor is still tugged at with light articulation in a relatively pleasing key. The movement ends with chords in F tonic, C dominant, and back in F tonic, concluding the blend of his second to last symphony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV1zTM2P_LE
I like how you mentioned that the staccato notes played into the idea of “musical jokes.” I think he does a very great job of contrasting sounds, and I can imagine very serious audience members laughing at that part.
I like this piece a lot. It’s cool that even with all the different tempos and speeds that it is still a really excellent piece of work. I liked how you talked about “musical humor”, I had never heard that phrase before so I enjoyed learning something new.