[1] Initially, Piston had preferred to write a flute concerto for the Boston Symphony's principal flautist, Doriot Anthony Dwyer, but Leinsdorf preferred a symphony.
[4] Although Piston had occasionally employed twelve-tone technique from early on, it is much more in evidence in the Eighth Symphony than ever before, and this brings with it a heightened level of impassioned, almost tragic expression.
The first movement begins with a melody constructed from a twelve-tone series, C D♭ E F A♭ G F♯ E♭ D A B B♭, accompanied by two six-note chords consisting of the second and first hexachords of the same row.
[5] The concluding Allegro marcato is in a large binary form with a short coda.
Inversion of melodic lines is a significant feature of this movement, which concludes with a spirited timpani solo.