The less defined the phrases, the easier it is to make them
similar.
Undoubted likeness there is between the main elfin figure and the first
phrase of the symphony.
[Music: (Oboes, with lower 8ve. and higher 8ve. of piccolo)
_Allegro vivace_
(Strings)]
The triplet is itself a kind of password throughout. With this multiple
similarity is a lack of the inner bond of outer contrast.
The mood of demon humor finds a native medium in the tricks of new
Gallic harmony. Early in the prelude we hear the descending tone, a
streak of sadness in the mirth. Answering the first burst is a strange
stroke of humor in the horn, and as if in
[Music: (_Tremolo_ 1st violins)
(1st horn) (Clarinets doubled above in strings)]
serious balance, a smooth gliding phrase in the wood. Now the first
figure grows more articulate, romping and galloping into an ecstasy of
fun. A certain spirit of Till Eulenspiegel hovers about.
Out of the maze blows a new line in muted trumpets, that begins with the
inverted triplet figure, and in spite of the surrounding bedlam rises
almost into a tune. At the height the strange jest of the horns reigns
supreme.
From the mad gambols of the first figure comes a relief in sparkling
calls of the brass and stirring retorts in pure ringing harmonies. In
the next episode is a fall into a lyric mood as the latest figure glides
into even pace, singing amid gentlest pranks. Most tuneful of all
sounds is the answer in dulcet trumpet while, above, the first theme
intrudes softly.
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