Runtime: Approx. 26 minutes

By the time Beethoven began composing his Eighth Symphony, he had already made several significant contributions to the symphonic genre. His Third, “Eroica” (Heroic), expanded both the size of the orchestra and the duration of the symphony. His famous Fifth and Seventh pushed the limits of symphonic drama, and his Sixth, the “Pastoral,” introduced the idea of narrative to the symphonic form. However, one of Beethoven’s most important changes to the symphony was his abandonment of the classical Minuet and Trio movement in favor of the Scherzo.

Scherzo, which translates from Italian to “joke,” is similar to the Minuet and Trio form in that they are both lighter movements set in a triple meter. But while the Minuet and Trio has the air of an elegant dance, the Scherzo is a faster, more frenetic scheme in which the composer can jerk the audience around, pulling musical pranks and generally thwarting expectations with surprising rhythms and sudden dynamic changes.

In the Eighth Symphony, Beethoven seems to apply the concept of “Scherzo” to the entire work. Significantly shorter and more concise than any of his symphonies since the Third, he forgoes an introduction and instead jumps right into an enthusiastic main theme. But only a few measures into his exposition, the music comes to a halt and abruptly takes on a more contemplative tone. Beethoven continues toying with the listener’s expectations throughout each of the work’s four movements, flitting from exuberance, to levity, to somber contemplation in quick succession. But perhaps the grandest joke of the entire work is Beethoven’s choice to omit his beloved Scherzo movement and return to the long-abandoned Minuet and Trio for the work’s third movement, a template he hadn’t used in nearly ten years.

Perhaps with his Eighth Symphony, Beethoven was proclaiming that he could subvert any expectations of what his music would be, even those he constructed himself. Or perhaps he had so mastered the form that he could spin or the symphony into whatever he desired, even a bit of a joke on the audience. Either way, Beethoven’s Eighth shows us a less serious side of the composer who is so often depicted as glaring out from his portraits with taciturn seriousness.