The 4th Symphony is divided into four movements.

I. Lento misterioso, Allegro The first half of the work opens with an ostinato in the celli, in which an anxious, continually syncopated six-note motif develops toward a paroxysm of violence. The atmosphere then relaxes until a suspended chord expresses tenderness. The second half of the work is an interplay between the forces of a featured interval of a fourth and the energetic punctuation of bitonal chords, followed by a more expressive moti...