Very slowly, mysteriously. A minor. “Midnight song”.

At this point, in the sparsely instrumentated fourth movement, we hear an alto solo singing a setting of Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Midnight Song” from Also sprach Zarathustra “O Mensch! Gib acht!” (“O man! Take heed!”), with thematic material from the first movement woven into it.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 3 - 4th Movement with Lew Smoley.