Symphony No. 8
Glazunov's final completed symphony, grand and sombre in tone, a summation of everything he had built as a symphonist before the form fell silent for him.
Written in 1905 and 1906 and premiered in St. Petersburg in December 1906 with the composer conducting, the Eighth was the last symphony Glazunov brought to completion. He began a Ninth but left it as a single orchestrated movement, so the Eighth stands as the effective close of a symphonic cycle he had pursued since boyhood. This lends it the weight of a summation, drawing together the lyricism, the contrapuntal skill, and the orchestral mastery of the earlier works.
The character is grand and often sombre, more serious in cast than the sunlit Seventh, with a gravity that suits a final statement. The scale is broad, the argument substantial, and the writing shows a composer in complete command of his resources.
The orchestration is full and richly worked, and the symphony was significant enough to influence Stravinsky's own Symphony in E-flat. After it, and after taking on the directorship of the Conservatory, Glazunov's creative energy in large forms largely faded. The Eighth remains the summit and the endpoint of his symphonic achievement, the last full expression of a form he had mastered before he turned twenty.
Movements
Recordings coming soon
The individual movements will be uploaded here.