In measure 71 occurs the first appearance of the bold theme which is to be twice used for episodes in the Finale, _e.g._
The closing cadence[282] of the movement, one of the most original and truly beautiful in all literature as it seems to the writer, furnishes a marvellous contrast to the stormy measures immediately preceding.
[Footnote 282: Already cited on page 57, Chapter IV.]
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._
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 transitional 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._
and later, also in the bass, a phrase from the main theme, _e.g._
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 refrain 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.
SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS FOR PIANOFORTE AND ORCHESTRA
This is one of Franck's most significant works, containing all his individual characteristics: melodic intensity, novel chromatic harmony and freedom of form combined with coherence. Franck always claimed that the variation form, rightly treated, was a perfect medium for free, imaginative expression; surely this work is a manifestation of his belief. A careful study will justify the statement that his style is founded on that of Bach and Beethoven; for the naturalness of these melodic variations can be compared only with the _Passacaglia in C minor_, and the general structure of the work finds its prototype in the Finale of the _Heroic Symphony_. It is a set of free variations, or rather organic transformations of two themes; the first sombre, entirely in the minor, the second brighter, with some passing emphasis on the major. The variations are not numbered and there are no rigid stops; though, of course, when objective points are reached, there is natural punctuation. The two themes, as follows--a striking example of Franck's peculiar harmonic scheme--should be carefully studied, _e.g._