Very little remains to be said with regard to the last moments of this score. The orchestral difficulty is that it dies in two ways; first of all p at bar 196, and then ff from bar 197 to bar 212. In its first version we cannot very well let its life flicker out without some orchestral consolation—especially as we have a direction “Gt. p molto cresc” in bar 185. On the other hand too much consolation may mean disappointment when the Festival Ending begins. What is the least required of us by dignity and friendship in these trying circumstances? I should say mp brass at bar 186 with a crescendo to mf five bars later; bar 190 to be the only big spread chord; then a drop back in the next bar to an orchestral mf without heavy brass; the last cadence to be helped out with pp trombones—no trumpets.
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