Symphony No. 8 in F major

Beethoven referred to his Eighth Symphony as “the little one in F.” In comparison with the Seventh in A, which he also completed in 1812, it is true that it is not very big. On the other hand, Beethoven also considered the Eighth “much better” than the Seventh. So, whatever he actually meant by that, it would obviously be wrong to regard the Eighth as a harmless and unambitious pastiche of Haydn.

Small in stature the first movement may be but it has more than enough muscle and energy to compensate. The first subject is not lyrical but dramatic and, far from decreasing the pressure, Beethoven firmly builds it up before slipping into the quiet little second subject and then racing away again into a series of violent sforzando and fortissimo full-orchestral chords.

During the exposition there is the occasional, brief, contrastingly lyrical phrase, usually in the woodwind. In the development there is no such thing. It is only in the recapitulation that Beethoven feels he can afford to expand the lyricism: the first subject on its reappearance is slightly extended and the comparatively long coda offers new, more thoughtful developments between the fanfares. The ending is surprisingly quiet.

The second movement is also short but perhaps the wittiest of any that Beethoven wrote. It is said to have been inspired by Maelzel’s Musical Chronometer, a forerunner of the metronome, and it is tempting to accept whatever evidence there is for the idea. The woodwind goes tick-tock tick-tock in regular rhythmic accompaniment to the melody in the violins, but only until something goes wrong with the mechanism. There is a loud whirring in the strings and the metronome gets a beat behind in a disjointed tock-tick. It rights itself and, eventually, the same thing happens again.

Having combined slow movement and scherzo in the Allegretto scherzando , Beethoven now offers a slow minuet - which, however, is not so much a reversion to Haydn as an anticipation of the gentle third movements in Brahms’s first three symphonies. In spite of its muscular episodes, this is a lyrical movement at last, with a particularly delightful trio for two horns and clarinet.

The last movement is not a little one in any sense. If it seems that it might be just a conventional gesture of a finale the appearance is deceptive. The truth emerges when, after an impressively contrapuntal development and a brisk recapitulation, the movement seems to be all but over. In fact, it is scarcely halfway through. What might have been a coda becomes a second development, moving stealthily in longer note values, striding purposefully, then running towards another recapitulation - in the wrong key, as it happens. But that is soon put right and the unsolemn mood of the symphony as a whole is confirmed in a playful coda.

Gerald Larner©