 Likewise , Liszt 's inclusion of a choral finale in his Dante Symphony changed both the structural and programmatic intent of the work . Liszt 's intent was to follow the structure of the Divina Commedia and compose Dante in three movements — one each for the Inferno , Purgatorio and Paradiso . However , Liszt 's son @-@ in @-@ law Richard Wagner persuaded him that no earthly composer could faithfully express the joys of Paradise . Liszt dropped the third movement but added a choral element , a Magnificat , at the end of the second . This action , Searle claims , effectively destroyed the work 's formal balance and left the listener , like Dante , to gaze upward at the heights of Heaven and hear its music from afar . Shulstad suggests that the choral finale actually helps complete the work 's programmatic trajectory from struggle to paradise . 
