1 Molto Allegro
The first movement depicts plaintive sighs, though it also contains gentle and graceful melodies, with occasional bursts of jubilation. A restless first theme is played first by violins and then iterated with power and insistence by the full orchestra.
2 Andante
The softly elegant second movement is a reflection of a quiet moonlit evening. Firstly, the second violins are joined by the first violins imitating the successively higher pitches. The winds then cool down the atmosphere with a delicate colouration in their turn. A steady pulsating rhythm is constant in this movement.
3 Menuetto & Trio
This movement offers both darkness and light, the dark passages strongly assertive and the light ones sweeter. It opens with a heavy minuet in a strutting heavily accented theme, which reflects the continuation of the dark emotions in the second movement. Then, the trio takes over in the G major tonality, but the light tone is just a temporary lyrical release. The piece returns to G minor, which asserts its potency and heavy atmosphere with a da capo.
4 Allegro Assai
The final movement returns to the more serious mood of the piece, often giving an urgent and fretful turn. Different sections of the orchestra simultaneously concern themselves with different melodic ideas, which blend into an intricate mix at the middle of the movement. The symphony ends with stress and agitation.
