The Finale is perhaps the most spontaneous canon in existence,
an imitative dialogue between the two instruments; this form
(which is often rigid and mechanical) being used so easily that
it seems as if each instrument were naturally commenting upon
the message of the other. Observe also the sonorous background
provided for the violin melody by the widely spaced chords on
the pianoforte,e.g.
[Music]
The first episode, beginning in F-sharp minor at measure 38,
is based on the third generative phrase (c) brought over from
the Fantasia and embroidered by running passages (delicato) on
the violin. This leads to a return of the canonic first theme
which, with an interchange of statement and answer and with
free modulations, is developed to a brilliant climax—the canon
still persisting—in the dominant key of E major. Some transi-
tional modulations, in which the excitement cools down, bring
us to the second episode, in B-flat minor. This at first develops
the phrase (b) from the middle part of the second movement,
e.g.
[Music]
and later, also in the bass, a phrase from the main theme,e.g.
[Music]
It is soon followed by a bold entrance of the dramatic theme from
the Fantasia which, twice presented—the second time grandioso—
leads to a thrilling cadence in C major. The third and last re-
frain is a complete restatement of the original canon and closes
in A major with a still more brilliant imitative treatment of
the passage formerly in the dominant. The last measures—
with the high trill on the violin and cutting dissonances on the
pianoforte—are far too exciting for mere verbal description.