, in the
_Coriolanus_ Overture and to a certain extent in the Fifth Symphony.
If, furthermore, we look back from the dramatic and highly personified
use made of themes in modern music, in the works of Strauss,
Tchaikowsky, Franck and even Brahms (_e.g._, his First Symphony with
its motto-theme) we can see that this symphony of Berlioz is an
important link in a perfectly logical chain of development. This
melody, then, l'idee fixe, appears in each of the five movements;
undergoing, however, but slight purely thematic development, being
introduced and modified primarily for dramatic purposes. In the second
movement,[233] _Un Bal_, two phrases drawn from it are sung _pp_ by
the clarinet as an indication that, amid the gaieties of the dance,
the vision of the beloved one is ever present. In the _Scene aux
Champs_ it is modified and eloquently declaimed by the flute and oboe,
_e.g._

[Music]

[Footnote 232: Dannreuther, in his essay in the Sixth Volume of the
_Oxford History of Music_, speaks of the peculiar process of
"rabbeting" which serves Berlioz in the place of counterpoint, and the
criticism, though caustic, holds much truth.]

[Footnote 233: This movement is also of interest as an early example
of the Waltz among the conventional symphonic moods. The example has
been followed by Tchaikowsky in the third movement of his Fifth
Symphony.]

At the close of the movement occurs one of Berlioz's most novel and
realistic effects--the imitation of the rumbles of distant thunder
produced by four kettle-drums tuned in a very peculiar way (see page
75 of the orchestral score, Breitkopf and Haertel edition). In the
fourth movement, _Marche au Supplice_, four measures of l'idee fixe
are introduced just at the moment when the head of the hero is to be
chopped off. This is done for purely theatric purposes and certainly
makes our flesh creep--as Berlioz no doubt intended. The most
spectacular effect, however, is in the last movement, _Songe d'une
Nuit du Sabbat_, where the theme is parodied to typify the degraded
appearance which the beloved one takes in the distorted dreams of her
lover, _e.g._

[Music]

The impression made by the Symphony depends largely upon the attitude
of the hearer. In this work we are not to look for the sublimity and
emotional depth of a Bach or Beethoven any more than we expect a
whimsical comedy of Aristophanes to resemble an epic poem of Milton.
But for daring imagination, for rhythmic vitality