[Music:  Andante sostenuto (Horns and bassoons doubled in 8va.)]

of tragedy.  Opposite in feeling is the descending motive of strings, Moderato con anima (9/8).  First gently expressive, it soon rises in passion (the original

[Music:  Moderato con anima in movimento di valse (Strings and one horn, the melody doubled below)]

motto always sounding) to a climax whence an ascending motive, in lowest basses, entering in manner of fugue, holds a significant balance with the former.  Each in turn rears a climax for the other’s

[Music:  (Horns doubled below) (Cellos and bassoons)]

entrance; the first, lamenting, leads to the soothing hope of the second that, in the very passion of its refrain, loses assurance and ends in a tragic burst.

Suddenly a very new kind of solace appears Dolce grazioso, in a phrase of the clarinet that leads to a duet of wood and cantabile strings, impersonal almost in the sweetness of its flowing song.

[Music:  Moderato assai (Oboe doubled in flute) (Strings)]

In such an episode we have a new Tschaikowsky,—­no longer the subjective poet, but the painter with a certain Oriental luxuriance and grace.  It is interesting to study the secret of this effect.  The preluding strain lowers the tension of the storm of feeling and brings us to the attitude of the mere observer.  The “movement of waltz” now has a new meaning, as of an apparition in gently gliding dance.  The step is just sustained in leisurely strings.  Above is the simple melodic trip of clarinet, where a final run is echoed throughout the voices of the wood; a slower moving strain in low cellos suggests the real song that presently begins, while high in the wood the lighter tune continues.  The ripples still keep spreading throughout the voices, at the end of a line.  The tunes then change places, the slower singing above.

With all the beauty, there is the sense of shadowy picture,—­a certain complete absence of passion.  Now the lower phrase appears in two companion voices (of strings), a hymnal kind of duet,—­ben sostenuto il tempo precedente.  Here, very softly in the same timid pace, enters a chorus, on high, of the old sighing motive.  Each melody breaks upon the other and

[Music:  Bel sostenuto il tempo (moderato)
(Strings)
(Woodwind doubled above)
(Kettle-drums)]

ceases, with equal abruptness.  There is no blending, in the constant alternation, until the earlier (lamenting) motive conquers and rises to a new height where a culminating chorale sounds a big triumph, while the sighing phrase merely spurs a new verse of assurance.

[Music:  (Strings and flutes) (Doubled above and below)]

A completing touch lies in the answering phrase of the chorale, where the answer of original motto is transformed into a masterful ring of cheer and confidence.