return to the plaintive oboe melody, this time in D minor. The
tonality is purposely indefinite to accentuate the wistful feeling
of the movement—the last chords having the suspense of a dom-
inant ending. After a short pause we are at once whirled into
the dashing Scherzo which seems to represent the playful badi-
nage of a Romantic lover. The Trio affords a delightful reminis-
cence of the Romanze and, from a structural point of view, is an
early example of the principle of “transformation of theme"[202]
which plays so important a role in the works of Liszt, Franck,
Tchaikowsky and Dvo[vr]ák. For the melody,e.g.,
[Music]
is a rhythmic variant of the former obligato of the solo violin, and
has this characteristic, which gives a peculiar note of surprise,
that it always begins on the third beat of the measure. Follow-
ing a repetition of the Scherzo the movement ends eloquently
with a coda-like return to the Trio which, after some modu-
latory changes, is broken up into detached fragments, seeming
to vanish into thin air. There is no pause between the end of
the Scherzo and the introduction, based on the theme of the
first movement, which ushers in the Finale. This movement is
in Sonata-form with a modified Recapitulation—i.e., the first
theme is not repeated—and with a passionate closing theme,
e.g.,
[Music]
which atones for the intentional incompleteness with which the
first movement ends. The main theme is a compound of a
vigorous march-like motive, closely related to one of the sub-
sidiary phrases of the first movement, and a running figure in
the bass—the derivation of which is obvious. After a rather
labored transition[203]—surely the most mechanical passage in
the whole work—we are rewarded by a melody of great buoy-
ancy and rhythmic life,e.g.
[Music]
[Footnote 202: In Brahms, who was something of a conservative
as to freedom of form, there is a striking example in the connec-
tion between the second movement and the Finale of the Third
Symphony.]
[Footnote 203: Schumann was a true poet in the spontaneity of
his themes, but often an unsuccessful architect when connecting