Beethoven drafted his Eighth Symphony in F major between autumn 1811 and the winter months of 1812/13, directly after completing his Seventh Symphony; thus, these two symphonies were composed even more closely together than had been the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th as the two previously paired symphonies. The Seventh and Eighth were rehearsed together in April 1813, though for unknown reasons the Eighth was not premiered until February 1814, two and a half months after the Seventh.

Since, unlike many of his other works, Beethoven carefully proofread the text of the Eighth’s first edition (1817), the print contains comparatively few errors. The engraver’s copy by the copyist Diabelli (at that time still a Steiner publishing-house employee) does, however, also contain additions and refinements, whose authorization by the composer is questionable. Within the context of the new Beethoven Complete Edition, editor Ernst Herttrich nevertheless succeeded in presenting a meticulously and carefully crafted music text based on the autograph and the first edition, which, as a “definitive” edition, has the greatest plausibility and validity.