through one familiar scene after another, many of the musical ideas introduced earlier in the piece are heard once again, though this time in reverse order, at a very quick pace, and in combination with the raging fury of the tempest. For instance, there is a stormy return of the "Woods" theme in E major (which now serves as the second subject theme of the recapitulation). Eventually, however, the musical storm begins to subside, with some echos of thunder still heard in the distance. The heavy, driving rain is replaced once again by isolated drops in the woodwinds and pizzicato strings. The section ends off with a brief motif of the night theme (the mountain motif, from the opening). Coda After the storm the piece is gradually ushered into a beautiful "Sunset", with the sun theme being proclaimed the strings in G major. In "Sunset", the established sun theme is given a slow, spacious treatment, eventually reaching a radiant climax which then transitions into a minor key as it apparently dies away in favor of the night theme. Some believe the symphony's "coda" begins at "Sunset"—rather than present any new musical material, these last three sections are full of "wistful nostalgia" for the beautiful moments earlier in the piece. The piece transitions into "Ausklang (Quiet Settles/Epilogue)", which is marked to be played "in gentle ecstasy", as it parallels the earlier "Vision" section, but with a much softer, more peaceful character. Starting off the sun theme is played solemnly by organ and brass, followed by the peak theme on woodwinds first and then brass (similar to the triumphant tone in "Summit", albeit a more muted climax), then recapitulated on strings as the sun and peak motives are then brought together in a coda, followed by a solo piccolo (the same melody heard at the end of "On the Alpine Pasture"). Afterwards, as the sun theme appears for the last time, the harmony moves from the E major established in "Ausklang" (a key which parallels that of "The Ascent", the start of An Alpine Symphony's "exposition") back to the darkness and mystery of B minor. In these shadowy final moments of the piece, the sustained descending scale from the opening "Night" is heard once more, reaching a depth of six full octaves. As the brass emerge from the sound to deeply proclaim the mountain theme one final time, it is almost as