It is clearly the Antar motive,--here amidst ruin
and desolation.
The fairy theme is also unmistakable, that first plays in the flute,
against soft horns, _Allegro giocoso_,
[Music: (Flute) _Allegro giocoso_
(Horns) (Harp)]
and is lost in the onrushing attack, _furioso_, of a strain that begins
in murmuring of muted strings.
Other phrases are merely graphic or incidental. But the Antar motive is
throughout the central moving figure.
The scene of the desert returns at the end of the movement.
In the second (_Allegro_, rising to _Molto allegro_, returning
_allargando_) the Antar motive is seldom absent. The ending is in long
notes of solo oboe and first violins. There is no trace of the fairy
queen throughout the movement.
The third movement has phases of mighty action (as in the beginning,
_Allegro risoluto alla Marcia_), of delicate charm, and even of humor.
The Antar melody plays in the clangor of big climax in sonorous tones of
the low brass, against a quick martial phrase of trumpets and horns.
Again there is in this movement no sign of the fairy queen.
In the fourth movement, after a prelude, _Allegretto vivace_, with light
trip of high flutes, a melody, of actual Arab origin, sings _Andante
amoroso_ in the
[Music: (Arabian melody)
_Andante amoroso_
(Eng. horn)
(Bassoon)]
English horn, and continues almost to the end, broken only by the
dialogue of the lover themes. At the close a last strain of the Antar
melody is followed by the fairy phrase and soft vanishing chord of harp
and strings.
Pages:
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133