Page:Rolland - Beethoven, tr. Hull, 1927.pdf/194

 the playful mood of the first part it is suddenly plunged into the inexpressible anguish of the minor trio. A short Presto unison phrase of eight bars brushes this aside, a tremor on a minor ninth preceding the happy return of the Scherzo.

The Adagio is one of the sublimest things in all music. It certainly reaches heights which transcend the limits of the piano. A remarkable passage, which changes mood no less than six times, forms a sort of prelude to the final fugue which is drawn from the opening germ of the work. It is a struggle of giants, unbridled in its onslaught. Fuga a tre voci, con alcune licenze Beethoven marked it, and its great licences and amazing contortions have puzzled many minds. The heavenly interludes, however, transport one into the pure air of the Sanctus of the Mass in D. The similarity of the opening phrases of the Allegro, the Scherzo and the Adagio, should be noticed. It was by such means that Brahms later on strove to unify the separate movements of his longer forms.

Written at the age of fifty, it seems possible that he poured into these later instrumental movements much that he felt was beyond the