The whole is a reflective prologue to the Finale: a deep meditation from
which the song may roll forth on new spring. The hymn has suddenly
entered with a subtly new guise; for the moment it seems part of the
poignant sigh; it is as yet submerged in a flood of gloom and regret;
and the former phrases still stride and stalk below. In a wild climax of
gloom we hear the former sob, earlier companion of the stalking figure.
Hymnal strains return,--flashes of heavenly light in the depths of hell,
and one passionate sigh of the melting cadence.
_Allegro_,--we are carried hack to the resolute vigor of the earlier
symphony, lacking the full fiery charm, but ever striving and stirring,
like Titans rearing mountain piles, not without the cheer of toil
itself. At the height comes a burst of the erst yearning cadence, but
there is a new masterful accent; the wistful edge does not return till
the echoing phrases sink away in the depths.
A new melody starts soaring on the same wing of
[Music: (Strings and clarinets)
_Allegro_
_cantabile_
(_Staccato_ strings _con 8ve._)]
blended striving and yearning of which all this song is fraught. In its
broader sweep and brighter cheer it is like the queenly melody of the
first movement.
The Titan toil stirs strongly below the soft cadence; the full, fierce
ardor mounts heavenward. Phases now alternate of insistent rearing on
the strenuous motive and of fateful submission in the marching strain,
that is massed in higher and bigger chorus.
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