is followed in turn by active and very characteristic figures in the winds. As in the fifth symphony there is an early hint of the key B-flat in which the symphony will eventually close, since the wind response hits that B-flat as an on-and-off note in an otherwise G major passage. The mood of the opening gives way to fugal unrest and, eventually, two chaotic and disturbing outbursts (Simpson believes these reflect Nielsen's heart attacks, in a manner of speaking, though he does not claim that the piece is programmatic), before again quieting, to a lightly scored but unsettled close in A-flat. Second movement The Humoreske is for winds and percussion alone. In the notes Nielsen wrote for the symphony's premiere, he said that wind and percussion in the movement "quarrel, each sticking to his own tastes and inclinations"; Nielsen went on to liken this to the musical world of the time. Third movement Proposta seria. To paraphrase Simpson, again, several passages in this movement circle around as though snakes chasing for-the-moment lost tails. Finale Fanfare, theme and variations, fanfare-reprise and coda, on a fairly unstable theme in B-flat. The ninth variation, just before the fanfare-reprise and coda, has a sound and affect like that of the Humoreske — Simpson likens it to a grinning skeleton; as in many sets of variations, it is preceded by a minor key variation (a variation in the parallel minor), but one that is so protracted that when its last minor cadence arrives it is difficult to grasp as one whole variation. The critic Robert Layton has described this as a lament. The last note of the piece is a sustained low B-flat played loudly on two bassoons. Notes References Sources Books See pages 105–123. Reprinted by Hyperion Press . See pages 112–136. Scores Symphonies by Carl Nielsen 1925 compositions