Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

THE STORY

By 1889, the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák had made his mark with three symphonies widely performed across all the major cities of Europe and America. The Sixth and Seventh Symphonies (then known as the Second and Third) revealed the composer’s mastery of sonata form and development—but for his Eighth Symphony, Dvořák chose a more relaxed form in the service of rhapsodic idiom.

Commenting on the Eighth, Dvořák noted that it was “different from the other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way.” Compared to his profound and somber Seventh Symphony from four years earlier, the Eighth is relatively upbeat and joyous. Some have even called it his “Pastoral” symphony. As one of his biographers wrote: “When one walks in those forests surrounding Dvořák’s summer home on a sunny summer’s day, with the birds singing and the leaves of the trees rustling in a gentle breeze, one can virtually hear the music.”

Dvořák conducted the premiere of the work in 1890 as part of his induction into the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature, and Arts in Prague. He dedicated the Symphony to them in thanks for his election.

LISTEN FOR

• The incessant swirl of movement in the opening Allegro con brio, where one hears the sounds of nature as well as somber folk tunes
• The delicate and somber pacing of the Adagio
• The trumpet fanfare that begins the Finale, about which the Czech conductor Rafael Kubelik once remarked: “… in Bohemia the trumpets never call to battle—they always call to the dance!”

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, strings

Notes on the music by Joanna Chang