Beethoven 8 - Dudamel Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela & Gustavo Dudamel

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93:
• 1 Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: I. Allegro vivace e con brio 09:30
• 2 Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: II. Allegretto scherzando 04:06
• 3 Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: III. Tempo di menuetto 04:38
• 4 Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: IV. Allegro vivace 07:04
• Total Runtime 25:18

Info for Beethoven 8 - Dudamel

When Beethoven was composing his Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, a need for celebration was in the air. After years of war and Napoleon’s 1805 and 1809 occupations of Vienna, in 1812 victory was finally close at hand! In 1813 and 1814, Beethoven delivered two symphonies marked by this jubilant atmosphere. On December 8, 1813, his Symphony No. 7 in A Major was premiered in an extraordinarily successful benefit concert given in honor of soldiers wounded in the battle of Hanau, alongside the premiere of Wellington’s Victory, his “Battle Symphony.” Then in a concert on February 27, 1814, these same two works (by that time extremely popular) accompanied the premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major.

While the Seventh Symphony quickly overshadowed the Eighth in popularity and number of performances (the Allegretto of the Seventh came to be performed separately and was perhaps Beethoven’s most popular orchestral composition) both works reveal the composer in the third and most masterful period of his career. They offer up a music of pure Beethovenian ambition, beauty, humor, and relentless energy that thrills and fascinates audiences to this day.

Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

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Booklet for Beethoven 8 - Dudamel