"THE SWAN OF TUONELA
"Tuonela was the name of the Finnish Hades. Those wending their way to the final abode had to traverse nine seas and one river—the equivalent of the Styx—whereon sang and floated the sacred swan—
"'... the long-necked, graceful swimmer,Swimming in the black death-river,In the sacred stream and whirlpool.'"
The majestic, but intensely sad, swan melody is heard as a solo forcor anglais[English horn], accompanied at first by muted[135]strings and the soft roll of drums. Now and then this melody is answered by a phrase given to 'cello or viola, which might be interpreted as the farewell sigh of some soul passing to Tuonela. For many bars the brass is silent, until suddenly the first horn (muted[136]) echoes a few notes of the swan-melody with the most poignant effect. Gradually the music works up to a great climax, ... followed by a treblepianissimo, the strings playing with the back of the bow. To this accompaniment, which suggests the faint-flapping pinions, the swan's final phrases are sung. The strings return to the natural bowing, and the work ends in one of the characteristic, sighing phrases for 'cello.