It was premiered by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf on October 28 that year, which marked the 25th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia,[1] then downgraded to a Czech protectorate and Slovak puppet state under German occupation.
8 due to its innocently pastoral character,[2] is the shortest of Martinů's six symphonies, lasting ca.
24 minutes, and the only one that ends in its original tonality, D.[3] It consists of a flowing Allegro, a serene Andante, a martial scherzo and a bright finale.
[4] The Andante is the most successful and least ambitious slow movement in all of Martinů's symphonies.
It is even more nostalgic in character than is ever found in Dvořák, expressed by phrases of a folk-like simplicity exchanged between woodwinds and strings.