where he revised the symphony. Later that year a performance of the Reformation Symphony finally took place. By 1838 however Mendelssohn regarded the symphony as 'a piece of juvenilia', and he never performed it again. It was not performed again until 1868, more than 20 years after the composer's death. Key The key of the symphony is stated as D major on the title page of Mendelssohn's autograph score. However, only the slow introduction is written in D major, whereas the main theme and the cadence setting of the first movement are in D minor. The composer himself referred to the symphony on at least one occasion as in D minor. Instrumentation The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, "serpente" (serpent) and contrabassoon (fourth movement only, now usually played on the contrabassoon alone), 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings. Movements The symphony is in four movements: Andante – Allegro con fuoco (D major – D minor) Allegro vivace (B-flat major, trio in G major) Andante (G minor, ending in G major) Andante con moto – Allegro vivace – Allegro maestoso (G major – D major) A typical performance lasts about 33 minutes. First movement During the slow introduction, Mendelssohn cites the "Dresden Amen" on the strings. Mendelssohn's version of the "Dresden Amen" is as follows: (The "Dresden Amen" was also adapted by Richard Wagner as the "Grail" leitmotif in his 1882 opera Parsifal or by Anton Bruckner in the finale of his Fifth Symphony and the adagio of the Ninth.) The strings are interrupted by battle-cries from the brass section as follows: The "Dresden Amen" soon reappears on the strings and the Allegro con fuoco section, which is in sonata form, then begins. It opens as follows: Second movement The second movement, a B-flat major scherzo, is very different in spirit from the first movement, being much lighter in tone. Third movement The third movement, in G minor, is a lyrical piece primarily for the strings. There are references to the "Dresden Amen", and, at the movement's end, to the second theme of the first movement. Fourth movement The fourth movement is based on Martin Luther's chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A mighty fortress is our God"). It is in sonata form and is mostly in time. There are a few unmarked meter changes to to fit the meter