English composer William Boyce published his Eight Symphonies in 1760. These were instrumental pieces he drew from larger works written between 1737 and 1756. Most of them are in the three-movement form derived from the Italian opera overture model (fast-slow-fast). All of the symphonies are in major keys except for one, Symphony No. 8 in D minor.

The Symphony No. 8 was originally written in either 1737 or 1755 as The Worchester Overture. It has a weight or "gravitas" rarely found in the other works from this set. The first movement, Pomposo-Allegro, begins in the dramatically slow style of the French overture. The oboes enjoy more independence from their normal role of merely reinforcing the strings. Comparisons with George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a London contemporary of Boyce, are inevitable, because this could easily pass for one of his opera overtures or concerti grossi. A cadenza-like solo violin passage leads into an animated double fugue, rich with complexity and intriguing interactions between instruments. The lovely straightforward simplicity of the Largo (Andante) is reminiscent of the eighteenth-century opera reformer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-87). The opening unison in low strings, bassoon, and keyboard, alternates with flutes and violins in harmony. The delicacy of texture and sincerity are breathtaking. Another little string cadenza prepares the way for a robust final movement, Tempo di Gavotta (Risoluto). This is a set of variations similar to the earlier tradition of "divisions upon a ground," in which the melody is broken up into various figurations (divisions) over a constant, recurring harmonic pattern (ground). Melodically it sounds very much like a British composer of another generation, Henry Purcell (1659-95). Although, not an innovator by any means, Boyce was a significant contributor to the musical life of London in the late Baroque.

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