The colossal Fifth and reposed Sixth Symphonies of 1808 showed two approaches to the heroic of the genre, and with the near-simultaneous work on the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, Beethoven seems to continue to be inspired by characteristics that generate two sides of a coin in reshaping the dramatic possibilities of the symphonic genre, this time by “wield[ing] the rapier [Eighth] as well as the hammer [Seventh].” (Lockwood, Beethoven’s Symphonies, 172). It is the rapier of wit, drawing on the idea of scherzo, that best characterizes Beethoven’s reconsideration of the genre in the last symphony of his so-called Heroic period.

One of the most significant developments Beethoven brought to the symphony he had inherited from Haydn and Mozart was to transform the Minuet and Trio movements that typified late eighteenth-century symphonies into Scherzos, which became central to the symphonies of Beethoven and many of his successors. Haydn himself prefigured this evolution in his string quartets, and he would say near the end of his life, “I wish someone would write a really new minuet.” As Elaine Sisman points out, “Although Haydn did not mention them, Beethoven’s scherzos are usually considered to be the consummation of Haydn’s wish.” (Sisman, “The Spirit of Mozart from Haydn’s Hands,” 49.) Scherzos are, by definition, humorous. They thwart conventions—traditionally those of tempo, meter, and phrase length—and in so doing aim to delight, but also bring special attention to the conventions by denying them. This is particularly exemplified in the third movements of Beethoven’s First, Second, and Fourth Symphonies, which tend towards a beautiful aesthetic, while the Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Symphonies expand and intensify the scherzo even further, with moments suggesting the sublime, essentially consigning the gallantry of the minuet to a faded memory. While the scherzos of these latter symphonies suggest some sublime moments, as a rule they are not designed to overpower through an incomprehensible experience, but rather use the very fact that listeners can understand them by understanding what is unconventional about them, and through such novelty the audience experiences delight. In the Eighth Symphony, Beethoven expanded the scherzo character to encompass the entire symphony. Through unexpected structural twists, surprising rhythms and key relationships, and transparent orchestral textures, this symphony indeed recaptures some of the animating spirit of Beethoven’s First Symphony, “a salute to the symphonic ideal of a previous age” (“Beethoven,” Grove Music Online), while at the same time innovates using witty and subtle twists that thwart some of the basic expectations of the symphonic genre, and thereby call them into question for reconsideration, much as had earlier occurred with the scherzo begging reconsideration of the context of the minuet.

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