This symphony was composed largely in 2015 and completed
early in 2016. It is in five movements, played without pause:
The first movement (Largamente non troppo lento, D minor, 3/2 - 2/2)
has the function of a sonata-form exposition. The horn theme at the beginning
will not return until near the end of the work, but the minor ninth with which
it begins recurs in many different contexts, as do the fidgety accompaniment
figure and the shape of the countermelody in the strings. A slow brass fanfare
leads to the second theme, which has a middle section based on ascending
triplet figures. The closing section builds the minor-ninth motive to a climax
on the dominant of F.
The second movement (Molto vivace, A minor, 3/4) is a scherzo in
sonatina form, beginning with a chromatic fugato. The contrasting theme is
based on a major/minor arpeggio. The exposition ends in a mood of almost silly
cheerfulness, but the corresponding portion of the recapitulation steers the
music directly off a cliff.
The third movement (Adagio, B-flat major, 4/4) is compelled to start
completely afresh, after some of the wreckage from the end of the preceding
movement has been swept up and carted off. The strings begin trying to reason
from first principles, but are interrupted by the woodwind, who are fascinated
by a motive beginning with four repeated notes. A stately processional march
passes through, temporarily distracting everyone, until the serious business
re-intrudes with a wrench. The strings and winds are, however, no closer to
agreement.
The fourth movement (Alla marcia -- Tempo di valse -- Tempo di Cakewalk,
F minor, 2/2 - 3/4) makes another fresh start with a fast march based on the
repeated-note motive. This transforms into a waltz, still based on the four
repeated notes, which traps itself in ever more dissonant harmony. The march
returns in the form of a cakewalk, whose forced F-major gaiety relapses into
the minor, subsiding into a spooky echo on a solo string bass and three
flutes.
The final movement (Tempo del comincio, D minor, 2/2 - 3/2) returns to
the material of the beginning and reassembles it in a different order. Starting
in F with the rising triplets from the middle section of the second theme, it
builds to two statement of the head motive of the second theme: one in loud,
dissonant harmony, the other cadencing very quietly in D. This turns aside to
the brass fanfare, now in the remote key of A-flat, but quite suddenly falling
through the floor back into D minor for the recapitulation of the full horn
theme, exactly as at the beginning, but now harmonized with a huge, slowly
climbing D-minor scale. This brightens into D major for a moment, but then the
countermelody grows to a huge explosion that subsides onto G for the coda.
A slide on the trombones moves to A and the remaining loose ends come together
in a hellish blaze of D minor, grinding down to the last moment against
E-flat. The overall effect is supposed to be one of universal collapse and
devastation -- a Symphonie pour la Fin du Temps. (Pretentious, much?)
Copyright © 2015 -- 2022 Frank Wilhoit