Musical Image: A tone of expectancy and vigilance, with alternating quiet anticipation and sudden flourishes.
Technical Aspects: Soft, suspenseful chords building to urgent crescendos.
Musical Image: Contrasts serene, light melodies with discordant, abrupt sections to depict readiness versus unpreparedness.
Technical Aspects: Light melodies in higher registers for the wise, and dissonant chords for the foolish.
Musical Image: Starts with a simple theme that multiplies into complex variations, illustrating growth or stagnation of talents.
Technical Aspects: Variation form with dynamic contrasts and a rich harmonic palette.
Musical Image: A shift from majestic themes to tender, reflective passages echoing acts of kindness.
Technical Aspects: Broad chords and a commanding melody line for judgment, with softer sections for kindness.
Musical Image: Contemplative coda weaving together motifs from previous movements, ending on a note of expectation.
Technical Aspects: Recapitulation of themes ending with an open, unresolved chord.