Which composer wrote the Symphony No. 8 known as the Unfinished Symphony?

Franz Schubert wrote the Symphony No. 8 known as the Unfinished Symphony.

Schubert began the symphony in B minor in 1822 and completed two movements: Allegro moderato and Andante con moto. He also left a substantial scherzo fragment, but no authenticated completion of the full symphony exists. The work therefore became known as the “Unfinished.”

The manuscript remained largely unknown for decades. Johann von Herbeck conducted the first public performance in Vienna on 17 December 1865, more than forty years after Schubert began it. The symphony’s concentrated structure and expressive intensity helped establish its reputation as one of the Romantic era’s defining orchestral works.

Numbering can vary between editions. It is often called Symphony No. 8, although some catalogs list it as No. 7 because Schubert’s symphonic output was arranged differently. The nickname describes its incomplete state, not a missing final movement later discovered.