The 8th symphony

[barney zygon]

I have just written an essay about the use of orchestration in the second movement of the 8th symphony for my open university course. Before I submit it I thought I'd see if anyone has anything to say about it that might be useful for me to include. So, what does eveyone think about this movement? What overall moods are created by Beethoven's choice of instruments?
I think it is at first listen, just a nice pleasant, light, slow movement but repeated listens show it to be really clever and unusual. I particularly like the way that some of the melodies start on the 3rd beat of the bar and somehow manage to end at the end of a bar which makes you wonder just where the extra 2 beats are. You don't notice this until you look at the score. I think it works because the woodwind just plays a steady pulse all the way through (just about)

[John Rasmussen]

This is the sort of movement we woodwind players really don't like much. All those simple repeated notes can be very tiring and boring. But suddenly we have a lovely long line for just one measure that makes it all worthwhile.

The first thing I see when I look at the score is the extreme dynamics: pp to ff with no preparation! Like so much of Beethoven's work, this is a study in contrast in addition to all its other qualities.