II. The
The composer laid out the second
movement as a scherzo, followed by a long, generally slow section, with a brief
recap of the scherzo. You might - very roughly - diagram it as
Ex. 14
This
develops in a fugato over sustained woodwind , then
brass, chords till a second, flickering theme descends. Note its relationship
to Ex. 6 in the first movement.
Ex. 15
The
volume increases, as much due to the addition of instruments as to any dynamic
change. The numerous woodwind and parts and divisi
string colors - pizzicato, spiccato and con legno - add up to a heady feast of instrumental color. A
further, sinuous theme emerges from the bass instruments and later combines
with its own inversion on the higher woodwinds.
Ex. 16
Thus
far, the dominant orchestral sounds have been in the high register, all in
lively rhythms. A more static theme emerges in the basses (and as a bass), its phrase-ends using hemiola cross-rhythms, typifying the mountain itself.
Ex. 17
This
underpinning theme further enhances the weight of the music, leading to one of
the most dazzling passages in von Hausegger’s output
- a panorama of the sleeping emperor himself, in a resplendent C major on the
trombones. The aural picture is fleshed out by sustained wind chords, with
string and harp tremolandi derived from Ex. 14.
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Ex. 18
The
orchestra then side-slips to an equally grand D flat major, the whole paragraph
capped by a thunderous bash on the gong (and it ought to be a wide a gong as
possible). Truly, we are in the hall of the mountain king! As if stunned by
this revelation, there follows an expectant silence, broken (barely) by fifths
on the horns and clarinet seconds. (The composer Calvin Hampton once told me he
always felt it was natural for any huge outburst of sound to be followed by a dazed
silence.)
Ex. 19
The
horns’ passage transitions to a gentle, lyric theme in D major, harking once
more to the dream of a more tranquil homeland. Curiously, for all his dislike
of French Impressionism, Hausegger does seem fond of
indulging in parallel harmonies. Die Natursymphonie has further examples.
Ex. 20
This tune,
although self-contained, clearly derives from Ex. 2 in the introduction. The
music works up to a broadly serene restatement, in D flat major, of Ex. 20,
this time accompanied by an especially attractive countermelody.
Ex. 21
This
segment leads to a C major recap of Ex. 1. A figure derived from its last two
bars drives the music forward till we once more encounter a bucolic interlude.
Ex. 22
Quickly,
the nostalgia dissolves into a more impassioned mood, characterized by a
jagged, syncopated figure:
Ex. 23
A
variation of Barbarossa’s theme is thrown into the mix, the passage crowned by an
extended version of Ex. 10. We hear a brief try for reconciliation from Ex. 20
in D flat major, but a disquieting A natural on the bassoons nullifies the
spell; all is not yet well. A final glimpse of Barbarossa’s theme, pizzicato,
leads to a fragment of Ex. 22, accompanied by string sextuplets. These easily
become the eighth notes of Ex. 14, the scherzo theme, as the mists once again
envelope the mountain. Over quiet repetitions of the mountain theme, the music
builds to a brief climax then fades away into the movement’s basic key of B
flat minor. The awaited leader has not yet come.