The tinkling melody falls
suddenly into a new flow of moving song, rising to pure lyric fervor.
The soft air has somehow the main say, has reached the high point, has
touched the heart of the movement. Expressively it slowly sinks away
amid echoing phrases and yields to the duet of elegy and the first reel.
But a new spirit has appeared. The sting of war-song is gone. And here
is the reel in slow reluctant pace. After another verse of the fairy
tune, the jig plays still slower, while above sings a new melody. Still
slower the jig has fallen almost to funeral pace, has grown to a new
song of its own, though, to be sure, brief reminders of the first dance
jingle softly here and there. And now the (hushed) shadow of the
war-song in quite slower gait strides in lowest basses and passes
quietly straight into the Adagio.
[Music: (Strings with lower reeds and horns)
_Adagio_
_cantabile_]
_III._--Assured peace is in the simple sincere melody, rising to a glow
of passion. But--is this a jest of our poet? Or rather now we see why
there was no halt at the end of the Scherzo. For the soothing melody is
in the very notes of the impish reel,--is the same tune.[A] Suddenly
hushing, the song hangs on high over delicate minor harmonies.
[Footnote A: There seems to be shown in this feat at once the
versatility of music as well as the musician in expressing opposite
moods by the same theme. The author does not feel bound to trace all
such analogies, as in the too close pursuit we may lose the forest in
the jungle.
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