"Stimulated by those moods which poets turn into words, I turn my ideas into tones which resound, roar, and rage until at last they stand before me in the form of notes.”

One of the greatest composers in the Western musical tradition, Ludwig van Beethoven revolutionized virtually every form and genre of music in which he composed. His "Eroica" symphony transformed that genre; his 32 piano sonatas enabled the development of piano music from the genial pieces of the late 18th century to the kind of colossal masterworks created by Liszt and Schumann; and his opera Fidelio embodied the virtues of liberty and equality that transformed Europe during his lifetime.

The Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 is a symphony in four movements composed by Beethoven in 1812. Beethoven fondly referred to it as "my little symphony in F", distinguishing it from his Sixth Symphony, a longer work also in F.

The Eighth Symphony is generally light-hearted, though not lightweight, and in many places loud, with many accented notes. Various passages in the symphony are heard by some listeners to be musical jokes. As with various other Beethoven works, such as the Opus 27 piano sonatas and the later Ninth Symphony, the Eighth Symphony deviates from classical tradition in making the last movement the weightiest of the four.