Conducted by Ian Whyte
Beethoven himself called the Eighth Symphony a ' Little Symphony' and although it is imbued from first to last with gay spirits and is almost as light in texture 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 ,s 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.'