D minor triad) clashes intensely with the sustained notes of the B minor scale. As night gives way to daylight in "Sunrise", the theme of the sun is heard—a glorious descending A major scale which is thematically related to the opening scale depicting night time. A secondary theme characterized by a tied triplet figure and featured numerously in the first half of the piece appears immediately afterwards and fully establishes itself 7 measures later in D major (the relative major of B minor). Exposition In terms of form, the section labelled "The Ascent" can be seen as the end of An Alpine Symphony'''s slow introduction and beginning of the work's allegro proper. Harmonically, this passage moves away from the dark B minor of the opening and firmly establishes the key of E major. It is in "The Ascent", the first subject theme, that Strauss presents two more main musical motives which will prominently return throughout the entire piece. The first is a marching theme full of dotted rhythms which is presented in the lower strings and harp, the shape of which actually suggests the physical act of climbing through the use of large upwards leaps. The second is a pointed, triumphant fanfare played by the brass which comes to represent the more rugged, dangerous aspects of the climb. It is just after the appearance of this second climbing motive that we hear the distant sounds of a hunting party, deftly represented by Strauss through the use of an offstage band of twelve horns, two trumpets, and two trombones. As Norman Del Mar points out, "the fanfares are wholly non-motivic and neither the hunting horns nor their phrases are heard again throughout the work". The use of unique musical motives and instrumentation in this passage reinforces the idea of distance created by the offstage placement—these sounds belong to a party of people on an entirely different journey. Upon entering the wood there is an abrupt change of texture and mood—the "instrumental tones deepen as thick foliage obscures the sunlight". A new meandering theme in C minor, which acts as the second subject theme, is presented by the horns and trombones: This is followed by a more relaxed version of the marching theme, presented in A major. This theme serves as a closing theme of the exposition. Birdcalls are heard in the upper woodwinds and a solo string quartet leads the transition