Beethoven’s eighth symphony stands between two towering works of the symphonic genre. The seventh and ninth symphonies were revolutionary works and marked the apogee of symphonic development for that time.
In between these two goliaths stands Beethoven’s self-described ‘Little Symphony’ which, when compared to its neighbors does appear less substantial but in fact it contains the lengthiest finale of any Beethoven symphony written at that point in time. The eighth symphony is a curious blend of classical simplicity and Beethoven’s innate progressive power. One can hear plenty of influence from Haydn in this symphony as well as influences from Mendelssohn and Schubert. Perhaps the biggest connection back to Haydn is the humor that permeates this work. The finale especially showcases Beethoven’s wit and humor with several surprises in form and harmony.
The first movement is a crystalline example of sonata form. It is almost as if Beethoven had challenged himself to return to the pure sonata form with its key relationships and structural balance after blurring so many of the borders in previous works.
The first group is a fully worked out subject with antecedent – consequent balance of structure. This differs from the more motive based groups that lend themselves to Beethoven’s style of development. Out of this group, however, Beethoven uses the eighth note motive in mm. 3- 4 rather exclusively in the development section. In this way the development has a strong forward momentum and the material that is being used is still short and rhythmically interesting.
The second group is the only hiccup in the sonata form of the first movement as it starts in the rather unusual key of D Major before moving to the more expected dominant of C Major. Once we start looking for the reason behind the D Major tonality a very important harmonic gesture, that links the first movement and the last movement, starts to become clear. From measure 24 until 32 an unwavering B flat Major chord is sounded (a dominant seventh is added from m30 – 32). The fact that Beethoven can retain the listeners’ attention for nine measures without changing harmony is testament to his skill. The length of this chord seems to be long enough to destabilize the aural memory of the F major tonality and it pivots smoothly to become a flat VI in D major. The following A major, being additionally buffered by a measure of silence, is un-offensive to the ear and leads us into D Major. The strings play the first play the lyrical second group with the winds taking over only once the much more expected C Major is attained. The winds being the more traditional employment of second groups are used wittily to confirm to the keen listener that indeed D Major was out of place. Importantly, measure 34 holds the first appearance of the C#/ D flat pitch that becomes almost like a protagonist in the finale.
Structurally Beethoven could not have delineated sections with more clarity. All of the major landmarks are defined by outstanding gestures. The first group is played from the outset, and the second is marked by a measure of silence, thinned out texture and a dynamic marking of piano. The repeat of the exposition and entry of the development is delineated by bold octave leaps and a unison tutti. The recap is marked fff and the coda is punctuated by the same octaves as the development this time in F in place of C. The clarity of structure and conservative key relationships set up the continual surprise of the finale, which is anything but orthodox.
The flat VI harmony appears once more in the coda of the first movement having D flat Major come from a common tone modulation originating in unison F’s. The pitch of D flat here has a demure character and leads in to some instability that is fortuitous of the finale.
The finale of the eighth symphony is full of humor and is driven throughout by a triplet rhythm with Mendelssohn like energy and exuberance. It holds many strong links to the first movement in harmony, structural devices and motives. It is, however, somewhat anachronistic to the first movement. The finale with its lengthy 504 measures, formal inventiveness and strong motivic development is far more exemplary of Beethoven’s compositional characteristics in his later life where as the first movement holds more in common with an earlier style being steeped in classical qualities.
The first group is full of motivic material that is spun out through the duration of the finale. It is not like the first group of the first movement which is far more developed as an independent melody. From measure seven to nine we can observe that the melodic material is closely tied to that in the codetta sections of the first movement (ex.mm.73-79). In measure 18 appears the first of many boisterous outbursts by C#. This C#, and its enharmonic counterpart, show up several times in the finale in an almost dialogue like manner creating a great sense of humor and excitement. The ff abruptness of the C# in m.18 is very reminiscent of Haydn’s famous surprise symphony.
The second group in the finale is not just approached by a flat VI harmony but rather it begins on one. The second group has very strong ties with the first movement in that only after being heard in the ‘wrong’ key is the group then replayed in the dominant. This is strong referencing of the first movement and even stronger use of the flat VI harmony. The use of the flat VI in the second group sets up the move D flat that appears in the first recapitulation as the second group.
The most striking aspect of the finale is its form. Contrary to the very obvious and conservative form of the first movement, the finale is an amalgamation of sonata and rondo like qualities. There are multiple ways to label the structuring of the movement, however, in this analysis a sonata form with two recapitulations and two developments seemed to work the most effectively. Even though the form is surprising, Beethoven goes to every effort to make sure the listener does not get lost and can enjoy the surprises along the way. Like the first movement, structural landmarks are well defined with thinned out texture and piano dynamics (m.92 and 156 being fine examples). Just as the octave leaps were structural markers in the first movement they are again in the finale at m.156 and m.351 which both signal returns to a recapitulation. Likewise at m.92 and m.269 with their sparse, skittish thirds signal a new development section. The length of the entire finale overshadows the other movements and is exemplary of the shift of weight that was occurring in Beethoven’s symphonies. This symphony is undeniably bottom heavy and this aspect places the work chronologically right where it exists, between the seventh and the ninth symphonies.
The flat VI degree has cropped up continuously throughout both the first and forth movements disrupting the key relationships of second groups and poking its rude head out at the end of the first group in the finale. It has also appeared in different guises the characters of D flat and C# being markedly opposed in nature. It is not until m.374 in the finale that we finally see the outcome of this rivalry. The flat VI degree has resolved both up and down when finally the C# wins over in m.378 and takes on a dominant function dramatically launching the second recapitulation into F# minor. After this point the music is safely home in F major and the second group at m.410 begins (for the first time in the first or fourth movement) in the correct key. This sense of finality has been put off for the entire symphony and is only now achieved just before the coda which is proudly steeped in F major.
The eighth symphony is a curiosity for its juxtaposition, however, it belongs exactly where it is in the chronology of symphonies because it represents the fact that the further Beethoven progressed in his development, the further he looked back to his roots. This work owes a lot to the formal transparency, motivic development and humor if Haydn. However, one must remember that almost all works by Beethoven owe a lot to Haydn’s influence it just so happens that this one is so explicit in its referencing.
Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony
Movement 1
Exposition m.1 F Major
Group 1 m.1 F Major
Bridging material m.12
Group 2 m.37 (Dmajor) C Major
Bridging material
Codetta m.70 C Major
Development m.104
Recapitulation m.191 F Major
Group 1 m.191 F Major
Bridging material
Group 2 m.235 F Major
Codetta m268 F Major
Coda m302 F Major
Finale
Exposition m.1 F Major
Group 1 m.1
Group 2 m.49 (A flat) C Major
Development 1 m.92
Recapitulation 1 m.162 F Major
Group 1 m.162 F Major
Group 2 m.226 (D flat) F Major
Development 2 m.269
Recapitulation 2 m.357 F Major (sub-section in F# minor)
Group 1 m.357 F Major
Group 2 m.410 F Major
Coda m.440 F Major
