SYMPHONY IN D MINOR._[A]
[Footnote A: Giuseppe Martucci, 1856-1911.]
The very naturalness, the limpid flow of the melodic thought seem to
resist analysis of the design. The listener's perception must be as
naive and spontaneous as was the original conception.
There is, on the one hand, no mere adoption of a classical schedule of
form, nor, on the other, the over-subtle workmanship of modern schools.
Fresh and resolute begins the virile theme with a main charm in the
motion itself. It lies not in a tune here or there, but in a dual play
of responsive phrases at the start, and then a continuous flow of
further melody on the fillip of the original rhythm, indefinable of
outline in a joyous chanting of bass and treble.
A first height reached, an expressive line in the following lull rises
in the cellos, that is the essence of the contrasting idea, followed
straightway by a brief phrase of the kind, like some turns of peasant
song, that we can hear contentedly without ceasing.
[Music: (Cellos)
(Lower reed, horns and strings)]
Again, as at the beginning, such a wealth of melodies sing together that
not even the composer could know which he intended in chief. We merely
feel, instead of the incisive ring of the first group, a quieter power
of soothing beauty. Yet, heralded by a prelude of sweet strains, the
expressive line now enters like a queenly figure over a new rhythmic
motion, and flows on through delighting glimpses of new harmony to a
striking climax.
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