Gripping drama, dance-like levity: Beethoven’s Seventh, with its dramatic force and rhythmic intensity, received its triumphant première in 1813, when the proceeds were donated to the victims of the Napoleonic Wars. His Eighth, in contrast, attracted less attention – much to the composer’s annoyance, “because it’s much the better work”. No less musically sophisticated than its predecessors, it reveals an unusual side of the great symphonist: cheerful and humorous.
