’cellos. The melodic formation is unusual in that the latter
phrase is an inversion of the first,e.g.
[Music]
[Footnote 259: The only slight exception is the third movement
of the Fourth Symphony which, being marked Allegro giocoso,
partakes somewhat of the nature of a Scherzo.]
After some descending passages in thirds and sixths—one of
the characteristic[260] effects in Brahms’s style—the theme is
repeated in the violins with richer scoring. The descending pas-
sage returns and this time leads to the entrance of a subsidiary
theme in F minor. In measures 50-51 occurs one of those cases
of melodic germination which entitles Brahms to be called a
genuinecreativeartist. The melody with its dashing, Hungar-
ian zest sounds like something brand-new and yet is logically
derived from the main theme by diminution,e.g.
[Music]
[Footnote 260: “Those eternal sixths and thirds.” Weingartner
later publicly recanted and became a whole-souled convert to
Brahms. (SeeThe Symphony since Beethoven, latest edition.)]
This is real poetic creation, it being the prime object of a poet to
create in music something out of apparent nothing. After these
vivacious developments the first part ends with a slight repeti-
tion of the main theme. The middle part, beginning measure
71, in 6/8 time and in the enharmonic key of B major (E-flat
= D-sharp) is noteworthy for its rhythmic swing, bold synco-
pations and contrasted accents; see especially measures 97-107.
At the beginning of the third part there is an effective blending
of the rhythm which has just prevailed with the graceful lines
of the first theme. The fabric is made up of effective changes,
modulatory and rhythmic, in the material from the first part.
At the Coda, più tranquillo, there is a delightful reminiscence
of the rhythm of the middle portion carried out to the very end
by the double basses.[261]
[Footnote 261: A similar effect may be found in the closing mea-
sures of the first movement of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony.]
The Finale is one of the most thrilling perorations in music;
not a perfunctory close, but a veritable Apotheosis of victori-
ous aspiration, giving an irresistible contrast to the first move-