Watch & Listen

Victoria Symphony continues to produce a variety of different videos including Virtual Concerts, Pre-Concert Talks, vsNEW composer videos, VS Vignettes and featuring VS musicians. All of our Digitial Material is free to users and can also be found on our YouTube Channel.

Virtual Concerts

Enjoy Victoria Symphony concerts on your own terms with FREE Virtual Concerts.

Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Beethoven Symphony No. 8

concert info

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Allegro vivace e con brio
Allegretto scherzando
Tempo di menuetto
Allegro vivace
Beethoven himself dubbed this “my little Symphony in F,” to distinguish it from the “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6, which shares the same key signature. Despite its brevity, it is no walk in the park, and Beethoven was resentful that it was overshadowed at its premiere in February of 1814 by the Seventh Symphony and by the overly bombastic Wellington’s Victory. The steady tick-tock of the second movement is a sly nod to Beethoven’s friend, Johann Maelzel, the inventor of the metronome. The English musicologist Sir George Grove described the finale of the Beethoven’s Eighth, saying, “It is pure Beethoven in his most individual and characteristic vein, full of those surprises and unexpected effects, those mixtures of tragedy and comedy, not to say farce, which make his music so true a mirror of human life, equal in his branch of the art to the great plays of Shakespeare in his – and for the same reasons.”

Pre-Concert Talks

Bass Trombone Bob Fraser talks about upcoming concerts – both in-person and virtual concerts.

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 8

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 6

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 4

Pre-Concert Talk: Goodyear Plays Shostakovich

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 3

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 2

Pre-Concert Talk: Beethoven Symphony No. 1

Pre-Concert Talk: Celebrating John Williams!

Pre-Concert Talk: Mahler and Schumann, Being Robert Schumann, Part 3

Pre Concert Talk: Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Pre-Concert Talk: Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony – Being Robert Schumann (Part II)

Pre-Concert Talk: Brahms Serenade No. 2 – Being Robert Schumann

Pre-Concert Talk: Haydn Symphonies; Morning, Noon, and Night

Pre Concert Talk: NOW! Contemporary Canadian Voices

Pre-Concert Talk: Schubert Symphony No. 9 – Kluxen’s Return

vsNEW

Young composers create new works for small ensembles of Victoria Symphony musicians.

vsNEW: Graveyard at Midnight – Atticus Dachsel Kerr

vsNEW: Mirage on the Silk Road – Houtian Zhong

VS Vignettes

VS Musicians and staff share insights into the music, teaching, outside interests and more!

VS Vignettes: Christopher Reiche Boucher

Musicians of the Victoria Symphony

The Victoria Symphony is made up of a diverse group of Canadian and international musicians.

Percusion - percussion and trumpet - Victoria Symphony

Meet the artists

Donate to the Victoria Symphony

Please consider making a donation to ensure the bright future of your Victoria Symphony. Giving a little makes a big impact. Donations are used to bring in guest artists and conductors, purchase music, bring education and outreach programs into local schools and so much more.

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The Victoria Symphony performs on the traditional lands of the Lekwungen peoples and acknowledges with respect the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continues to this day. We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live, create, and perform on this territory.