The opening theme is in three sections of four bars each, with the pattern forte– piano– forte. This extravagance is balanced, however, by the quiet closing measures of the movement. extremely loud), which rarely appears in Beethoven's works, but has precedents in the 6th and 7th Symphonies. To this end, the concluding bars of the development form a huge crescendo, and the return of the opening bars is marked fff ( fortississimo, i.e. As Antony Hopkins has noted, the movement is slightly unusual among Beethoven's works in that it reaches its dramatic climax not during the development section, but at the onset of the recapitulation. As with most of Beethoven's first movements of this period, it is written in sonata form, including a fairly substantial coda. This movement is in the home key of F major and is in fast 3Ĥ time. Problems playing this file? See media help. " More recently, Jan Swafford has described the Eighth as "a beautiful, brief, ironic look backward to Haydn and Mozart." Martin Geck has commented on the authenticity of the Eighth, noting that it contains "all the relevant hallmarks, including motivic and thematic writing notable for its advanced planning, defiant counterpoint, furious cross-rhythms, sudden shifts from piano to forte, and idyllic and even hymnlike episodes." But other critics have been divided in their judgement.Īll movements performed by the Bucharest College Orchestra. George Bernard Shaw, in his capacity as a music critic, agreed with Beethoven's assessment of the work, writing that "In all subtler respects the Eighth is better. When asked by his pupil Carl Czerny why the Eighth was less popular than the Seventh, Beethoven is said to have replied, "because the Eighth is so much better." A critic wrote that "the applause it received was not accompanied by that enthusiasm which distinguishes a work which gives universal delight in short-as the Italians say-it did not create a furor." Beethoven was angered at this reception. Reportedly, "the orchestra largely ignored his ungainly gestures and followed the principal violinist instead."
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Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time, but nevertheless led the premiere. The premiere took place on 27 February 1814, at a concert in the Redoutensaal, Vienna, at which the Seventh Symphony (which had been premiered two months earlier) was also played. The work took Beethoven only four months to complete, and is, unlike many of his works, without dedication. As Antony Hopkins has noted, the cheerful mood of the work betrays nothing of the grossly unpleasant events that were taking place in Beethoven's life at the time, which involved his interference in his brother Johann's love life. The work was begun in the summer of 1812, immediately after the completion of the Seventh Symphony.