Most of the material of Pettersson’s 8th Symphony is derived from Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 »Jupiter« and Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5. The philosophy of Pettersson’s music is determined by Nielsen’s vegetatio and organicism. First part of 8th Symphony describes music history from origin to decline. A cantus firmus extended to a long cantus is followed by a concatenation of different polyphonic and homophonic compositional techniques sorted chronological. Second part is a revolutionary construction of a polyphonic movement in sonata form. The symphony is the composers manifesto.