S2.E33. Revolutionary Freshness - Beethoven 8 in full.

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Welcome back to Perfect Pitch with Nick Healy Hutchinson and his fresh approach to the world of classical music. Whether you're an expert or a beginner, old or young. Perfect Pitch has something for everyone.

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From time to time, I like to play just one piece of music on the podcast. And today is one such occasion. Of all Beethoven's symphonies, the eighth, which is between many people's favorite, the seventh and the revolutionary ninth, is a wholly underestimated competition. I'm not going to talk you through all the four movements now, nor interrupt you in between. But I will just give you a few thoughts before we get into it. The experts, of which I certainly don't count myself as one, are considerably more enthusiastic than most. Because a lot of people, I think, fall into the trap of looking on the company as some kind of lightweight breather, a sigh of relief almost. The view strengthened by the fact that it's less than half an hour length. They'll add that its light touch and humor make it appear much more the school of humor to heighten, rather than what we might expect from bulky Beethoven. In fact, the second one almost appears to be some kind of a witty nod to Haydn's top company, which we heard in November the 4th episode. But this is very far from a mere path speech. You will often hear how Beethoven threw away the rule book. We've all heard it plenty of times. But in its own way, the Ape Symphony is another orbit condensed revolution against the norm. Nobody really got it on its first performance in 1812. It was probably a damn squid after its hugely popular subject. Beethoven may have been a little disappointed with that reaction. But when Right hadn't gone down quite as well as its predecessor, is reported to have replied, that's because 8 is a better symphony. In 1812, the year of its competition, Beethoven was on a real low. His deafness was worsening, his love life non-existent. And that's why, just when you're thinking that it's in a mold of hyphen, Beethoven throws you off cause, with a small dose of weighty anger or an unexpected pause. And talking of unexpected, no one could have imagined what was coming after the first two bars in the last moment, which starts off lightly and freshly, only to be abruptly interrupted by an outburst elsewhere and a sudden change of key. If you listen carefully in the closing minutes, you'll hear quite clearly how Beethoven has to find a way of bringing it all home with different keys. It's truly masterful. A point established from its very first note. So try not to be one of those who falls into the trap of thinking it's lightweight, because it's anything but F. Beethoven's eighth symphony, what he called his little symphony in F, contrasting it to his larger one in that key, the sixth, is played here in full by the Statskapella Dresden conducted by Colin Davis.

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That's it for this week. Nick will be back again soon. Please rate and comment on any of the previous episodes, and if you like what you hear, take a moment to press the follow button, as it helps to spread the word.