Leader, Edward Maude. Conductor, Heinz Unger. Phyllis Sellick (solo piano)
From a Northern concert hall
Beethoven himself called the Eighth Symphony a ' little ' symphony, and although it is imbued from first to last with gay spirits and its texture is almost as light as a Haydn or Mozart symphony, it was no great success when it was first performed. The reason for this. said Beethoven, is ' because it is so much better than the other ' (the No. 7).
Tchaikovsky once wrote an analysis of this symphony in which he said: ' It Is the last bright smile, the last response given by the poet of human sorrows and hopeless despair to the voice of gladness..... It is filled with a restrained joy. It depicts the gentle earthly delights of humanity before the soul is distracted by evil, doubt, and despair.'