In 1812, the banker Count Moritz Fries asked Beethoven to write a symphony "in the old style". Fries was a regular patron of Beethoven, and paid him a regular subsidy until he went bankrupt in 1825.
That summer, Beethoven began the work. It took 4 months to write, and on February 27, 1814, the Eighth Symphony premiered in a concert along with the Seventh.
Much has been made of what Beethoven fondly called his "little symphony in F" (And in fact it's the shortest of all the Beethoven symphonies), with critics and musical pundits divided in opinion:
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."[7] A critic wrote that "the applause it [the Eighth Symphony] 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.[5] George Bernard Shaw, in his capacity as a music critic, agreed with Beethoven's assessment of the work, writing that indeed, "In all subtler respects the Eighth is better [than the Seventh]."[8] But other critics have been divided in their judgement.
Source: Wikipedia
Now, what exactly does "in the old style" mean? Well, at the time, they were not so far removed from Mozart and Haydn. In fact, some of the best composers of the Classical period were still alive, like Johann Nepomuk Hummel (Who, if you recall from a previous diary, played in the orchestra that premiered Beethoven's Seventh Symphony):
OK, I didn't need to post that, but it's Wynton showing off his classical chops. Very cool.
So, when they were talking about "the old style", they were talking about an homage to the greats like Haydn. In fact, Beethoven wasn't always an "innovator". His first two symphonies were very much in that old style.
However, this being Beethoven, we get some twists.
But let's review the Classical Symphony, shall we?
To begin, the most important movement in the Classical Symphony is the first. This was usually the longest, and had the most "action" going on. The meter would be usually in 4/4 or 2/2 time. This was almost always in Sonata-Allegro form:
The second movement is an adagio or other slow tempo, usually in the subdominant key--that is, the 4th degree up from the original key of the Symphony. For example, a symphony in C would have a second movement in F. The meter would also be in two or four beats in a measure.
The form of the adagio movement would usually be a theme and variation, or a sonatina form--that is, a sonata form without the development, just a simple modulation back to the home key. Sometimes it would be in a rounded binary form, or a simple slow rondo.
The third movement was almost invariably a Minuet and Trio--a formal dance form in 3/4 time established during the Baroque period. This was a basic Ternary form: AABBC(C)D(D)AB. The letters in parenthesis signify that sometimes the C and D sections (the trio) were not repeated.
The fourth movement was a light(er), less "weighty" movement than the first, usually an allegro, and often times in a smaller version of sonata form, or even a rondo. Haydn used to use quatrain form in these movements when constructing his themes: A two measure motive, a two measure echo, the return of the first two measure motive, and finally the conclusion. This is another instance of music following verse almost exactly in form construction. And, as we shall soon see, Beethoven indeed with the Eighth Symphony, does pay tribute to these forms, and to Haydn in particular.
So on with the symphony. The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets in F, timpani and strings. So right from the start we have a very "Classical" orchestra. Nothing momentous like the previous symphonies, just an orchestra Mozart or Haydn would have used.
I Allegro vivace e con brio
WHOA! Right from the start we have Beethoven playing tricks with us. It's in 3/4 time--something you would expect from a third movement! But let's continue listening. Remember what I said about quatrain form? Listen to the first eight seconds of music (from about :09-:18). That's a perfect quatrain phrase. And the homage to Haydn is off.
Notice the repetition of the second half of the phrase at :14. We have a soft iteration followed by a louder iteration. We'll come back to that later. Moving on, the music is accented on the down beat (that is, beat one) to begin with, then accented on all beats at cadences such as at :31. It goes on like this until :42 and then it becomes accented on the third beat--a weak beat. This brings in a section of repeated octave in the full orchestra followed by a solo bassoon and we transition into the second theme at :53. This is a theme that starts in the strings. It moves in all eighth notes, seemingly building up speed, but then Beethoven slows and stops it. Twice. Then, at 1:12 we have tremolos in the second violins as we have a quiet build up to the third theme. The accents on beat one get more and more pronounced until we have the third theme. And here Beethoven does one of his tricks. In the previous discussion of the 7th Symphony, mention was made of Beethoven's trick of placing accents on weak beats. One of the techniques Beethoven was a master of was hemiola. Hemiola, for a "non-techical" explanation, is a process where you make music in one meter (like 3/4) appear as if it's in another meter (like 2/4). And at 1:32 we see that perfectly displayed. Over the course of three measures, we don't have the usual ONE-two-three, but instead we have four iterations of ONE-two (We go from ONE-two-three-ONE-two-three-ONE-two-three to One-two-One-two-One-two-One-two). The remaining count is a pick up into the answering part of the phrase, which is a very lyrical and unaccented phrase. Then he does it again. And we transition into the coda at 1:56. It builds and builds until we get octaves in a very familiar rhythm at 2:08. Bonus points if you can remember where that rhythm comes from. And at 2:13 the entire exposition gets repeated--as in the classical style. We transition into the development at 4:19 with that same rhythm played in octaves. It serves as a rhythmic base for the development section, which is based on the first four measures of the symphony. As we get on, and the development builds, we get heavier and heavier accents on the weak beat--beat two. It builds and builds until there is a massive crescendo and ascending line in the low strings and the movement climaxes at 6:02, not with more development, as is the norm with Beethoven, but with the onset of the recapitulation, written in fff, one of the very few times Beethoven ever used that dynamic. Remember when I mentioned the soft repetition of the second part of the first phrase? It's gone now. And we move through the first theme and we get the second theme back at 6:57. The third theme with its hemiola returns at about 7:38. And now Beethoven plays more tricks on us. He takes us through a full iteration of the coda of the exposition, as if he is going to do a second development. But we move into the coda with a clarinet solo at 8:23. And once again, we see Beethoven can't figure out how to write an ending. We build to what seems like an ending cadence at 8:53, but at 8:56, he pulls a deceptive cadence out, and we go on some more, until we get a triumphal iteration of the theme at 9:21. But at 9:35 he changes dynamics and the movement ends very softly and sweetly.
II Allegretto scherzando
Johann Maelzel was a friend of Beethoven, a showman, an inventor, and a tinkerer. In fact, his best known invention was one he simply made improvements on. He is responsible for the modern metronome. Because of this connection, there is an Urban Legend that the second movement of Beethoven's 8th is a bit of a homage to the metronome. But, it's more than likely it's still an homage to Haydn. Specifically his "Clock" Symphony. Here is the movement for which it was named:
The giveaway is the steady sixteenth notes. But back to Beethoven.
This movement is in what's sometimes called "Slow-movement Sonata form". That means that there is only a simple modulation between the exposition and the recapitulation. The woodwinds begin with the sixteenth notes, with the violins providing a very metronome-like melody in the Subdominant key of B Flat Major. Typical for the key relationships of classical symphonies. The sixteenth notes continue even through the second theme, starting at 1:12. Notice the string tremolos of sixty-fourth notes at 1:21 and again a few seconds later. Playing on the "clock" or "metronome" theme, this can be taken to symbolize the rapidly uncoiling spring in a clock or a poorly made metronome. At 1:40 we get the only lyrical passage without sixteenth notes. This leads into the simple modulation back to the first theme at 2:11. And we move to the coda at 3:47, after repeats of both themes. And at 4:05, the entire orchestra participates in the "uncoiling of the spring" to end the movement.
III Tempo di menuetto
As the tempo marking suggests, this is a return to the old classical Minuet and Trio style, now long obsolete.
Right away with the A theme we get typical Beethoven "rebellion". Instead of a light dance, he uses heavily accented weak beats and lots of sforzandos to give the movement an "oom-pah" feel.
So, we have the A theme with its repeat at :29. When the B theme enters at :44, we get a more pronounced "oom-pah" sound until we get a hint of thematic material from the A theme at around 1:05, and a little codetta at around 1:23 with it gently ending and eventually repeating at around 1:36. So this first part is like a little mini-Sonata form. How cute. At 2:30, the Trio section enters with the C theme. And like many trio sections, it features the horn section. However, Beethoven throws us a twist. He also features a clarinet solo as well in a gorgeous duet. The duet repeats at 2:45. At approximately 2:58 the D theme enters, which is where the strings take the melody. The clarinet and horns return at 3:14. Of special note, listen to the clarinet at 3:18-3:19 and again at 3:47. That is a G6, or one octave above the staff (4 ledger lines). That is considered the first major example of that note for clarinet appearing in a piece of music. In my opinion, this duet between the horns and the clarinet make this the jewel of the symphony. But we must move on. In 3:48, we have the return of the minuet section. In this movement, the D theme doesn't repeat, so the form turns out to be AABBCCDAB.
IV Allegro vivace
Finally we get a "Beethoven-esque" movement. This movement is in Sonata-Rondo form which, as the name suggests, is a blending of Sonata form (see above) and Rondo form (ABACADA). This means that the opening A theme repeats itself several times--at the beginning, at the beginning of the development, the recapitulation (of course), and also mid-way through the coda. This movement is also the most substantial, breaking away from classical tradition.
And what is this A theme? It begins quietly in the strings with a fast theme, made faster by the use of tremolos. But then something weird happens. We get a harsh sounding C Sharp at :21 and then the theme takes back up at a more forte level, as if that's where the true beginning of the movement is. The original material is built upon and we have an arpeggiated phrase at about :34. Notice how throughout, we have little iterations of the original motif--duh duh duh Di di dah--almost in that certain rhythm that seems so prevalent in this symphony. Moving on, at :48, we have our first "non-A" theme--a lyrical melody begun in the strings and echoed in the woodwinds. We have our first little codetta at 1:07 building up to a final chord at 1:25. The music then begins again after a short pause with the A theme again--first in fits and starts, then returning to the original theme as if to repeat the exposition. Only this time it's the beginning of the development. He breaks down parts of the themes, moving chordally in a typical Beethoven progression (Don't ask me to analyze. I don't have a score in front of me, but trust me on this one.) until the original theme returns triumphantly for a brief moment at 2:21 before going back into the weeds of the development at 2:25. But wait! What's this at 2:30? It's the recapitulation! Beethoven has used a technique mastered my Mozart-a deceptive recapitulation. He begins the recapitulation while making it sound like a development. So the recap begins rather quickly here. And there's that C Sharp again at 2:45. It sounds so out of place. Why is he throwing in this one note? Anyway, we see the return of material from the beginning, including that arpeggiated theme we heard at :34 returning at 2:54. As we go on, we have a different modulation and transition at about 3:07 ish. He does a mini development, throwing bits of the melody at 2:54 around the orchestra. And we return at 3:25 to the lyrical theme we heard at :48. He then re-modulates that theme at 3:35 in a gorgeous and simple transition. And he takes the theme from there, and we get what sounds like a coda or the beginning of a closing cadence at around 4:00. And what a beginning of a coda it is. He takes the opening motif and for a moment it seems like we have a second recapitulation coming--but he stops it at about 4:15, dipping into a minor mode. And we have a new theme appearing, based on descending quarter notes between the oboe and the viola or second violin at 4:23. This theme gets thrown about the orchestra in various iterations, both ascending and descending until we get the full orchestra at 4:50. Listen closely to the timpani and the winds. What do you hear? It's almost like a heartbeat. At around 5:05 it becomes all triplet figures in the winds and then it suddenly changes back to duples between 5:09 and 5:10. The strings take their melody and make it twice as fast by using diminution, then building up to a cadence where we hear the original theme at 5:18. And we have the next iteration of the theme. This is what gives this movement a rondo feel. We return to the theme officially at 5:26, after returning to it in the way the recapitulation began. And at 5:41 we have that C Sharp again. Only this time it's not going away. This time it's repeated several times. And at 5:48 we see why. That C Sharp is the dominant tone in the F Sharp minor scale, to which he now modulates the original theme. He's been foreshadowing this modulation for the entire movement. Now listen to the eighth notes beginning at 5:55. Listen to how me modulates back from F Sharp minor back to F Major. And finally at 6:13 we have the return of the lyrical theme in the bassoon at 6:13. And at 6:21 we have a standard I-vi-IV-V chord progression, which means we're nearing the end. But are we? At 6:35 we have another typical Beethoven cadence chord, but then quickly moving back to the Dominant of F (C Major), ready for the final cadence. The end begins with the horns at 6:42. And goes on. And on. And on. Through something like four different ending styles. Especially with repeated chords. Note 6:54, and the same thing only softer at 7:00, then at 7:20, and finally at 7:29. A common joke among musicians is that Beethoven couldn't write an ending. And here's an irony: Tchaikovsky called this movement (The Finale), "One of the greatest symphonic masterpieces of Beethoven." The irony is that Tchaikovsky couldn't write an ending either. Listen to the finale of his Fourth Symphony (Or even the 1812 Overture) and you'll understand what I mean.
So I hope you've enjoyed this trip through the "Little Symphony in F". Which isn't really so little. It's part homage to Haydn, part full Romantic symphony. It's classical, yet so very Beethoven-esque in chords and melody. It's something Mozart could have written, had he lived as long. Next week, Dumbo returns with Beethoven's Masterpiece: Symphony no. 9 in D, "Choral".