The master utilised the rhythmic clearness of this thought in the production of bold, march-like effects. Two episodes are introduced, and in these one hears the voice of the future Wagner. One of them bears a striking resemblance in character to the music of the fight between Siegfried and the dragon. The working out is confined almost wholly to the first subject, with occasional use of the episodes, and the recapitulation is reached by a strenuous climax, in which the orchestral thunderer of the future may be heard.
The second movement, andante, opens with two sustained notes, C and E, given out by the oboes and clarinets, followed by a graceful introductory phrase, prefatory to a lovely melody of folk-song character, which is announced by the violas and gradually spread among the entire body of instruments.
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Wagner himself said that this movement could never have been written had not the fifth and seventh symphonies of Beethoven been known to him, but although his method of construction follows that of the sovereign of the symphonic world, his ideas and his orchestral expression of them are his own. The second theme of the andante, which need not be quoted, is martial, thus giving the necessary contrast to the movement.
The third movement is the scherzo, marked allegro assai. The movement is decidedly imitative, yet it shows that the youth had attained a remarkable mastery of form and style. The first theme is this:
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This sweeps along in a bright and vivacious manner, full of sunny simplicity. Then comes the trio founded on this idea:
