There is nothing really grave or
religious about the music, except when he is speaking of the child; and
then the rough merriment of the man grows gentle, and the irritating
coquetry of the woman becomes exquisitely tender. Otherwise Strauss's
satire and love of jesting get the upper hand, and reach an almost epic
gaiety and strength.
But one must forget this unwise programme, which borders on bad taste
and at times on something even worse. When one has succeeded in
forgetting it one discovers a well-proportioned symphony in four
parts--Allegro, Scherzo, Adagio, and Finale in fugue form--and one of
the finest works in contemporary music. It has the passionate
exuberance of Strauss's preceding symphony, _Heldenleben_, but it is
superior in artistic construction; one may even say that it is Strauss's
most perfect work since _Tod und Verklaerung_ ("Death and
Transfiguration"), with a richness of colouring and technical skill that
_Tod und Verklaerung_ did not possess. One is dazzled by the beauty of an
orchestration which is light and pliant, and capable of expressing
delicate shades of feeling; and this struck me the more after the solid
massiveness of Mahler's orchestration, which is like heavy unleavened
bread.
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