After the initial dramatic opening, marked ‘Sostenuto, marcato’, swells of unusual sonorities derived from the characteristic harmony outlined above are presented, the music fades out to reveal the note G, sustained in the strings and clarinets in the same octave over a gradual diminuendo.
This gives way to a section of calm, ethereal string writing against a quietly sustained woodwind background, marked ‘Meno Mosso’, which introduces the more lyrical material, based on the flow of thirds, foreshadowing the tranquillity of the central Adagio.
A fury of violin demisemiquavers, sharp dotted rhythms in the basses and violent interjections from the trumpets and timpani propel the music dissonantly through an increasingly complex texture until the tempo marking doubles to ‘Allegro’.
A climax is reached where a dissonant cluster chord (containing the notes reading upwards, spread over several octaves from the entire orchestra: C natural, D, E, C#, E sharp) is sounded.
At length, the dynamic suddenly softens to pianissimo and a new mood is created, where small motivic fragments are quietly passed between instruments in the orchestra above low string pizzicato – the effect is of mysterious, pulsating energy (the tempo remains Allegro).
A crescendo is built up until a new passage of energy is released, where a fast motive based on the note D is obsessively repeated, initially in the first violins and later passed to the woodwinds, above a dramatic tremolo from the violas and cellos.
The texture is now more contrapuntal and polyphonic, and a fortissimo dynamic is maintained for several minutes, after reaching a final crushing dissonance, the music fades away to a single mysterious line doubled in the cellos and basses, which acts a transition into Part Two of the symphony, a central Adagio.
Tension is built up briefly, but fades out to reveal the most deeply contemplative music in the entire work – sustained sounds in the background as the strings pass lyrical fragments between one another.
A growing sense of expectancy is built up as violent interjections from the woodwind become more frequent and the dynamic gradually increases, culminating in a huge dissonance which sets off the mood for the remainder of the finale.
Small fragments of the storm are blow around but gradually disappear into the atmosphere of overwhelming gloom presented in the note C#, sustained in the mid range strings for several minutes.