Page:Rolland - Beethoven, tr. Hull, 1927.pdf/158

 The final movement is a masterpiece of construction and development which its astounding interruptions so amply justifies finally.

It is important to remember, as M. Romain Rolland has reminded us, that this is not a Choral Symphony in the strict sense of the term, but a Symphony with a Final Chorus." The choral Finale was written by Beethoven in a separate MS., and, as with most of his other final movements, he seems to have expected no closer connection with the preceding three movements than that of general suitability. His original idea for a last movement to this Symphony was the Finale of the String Quartet in A minor, Opus 132, but for some reason or other his sketches for voices on Schiller's Ode