The final Adagissimo must be the longest last page in music history, as the remaining fragments of melodic lines, receding into the distance, are gradually reclaimed by an incoming tide of silence. Today, we tend to read it as quite the opposite. This is his process; this is his subject matter. They don't look as upset as I think they should be. The rustic cartoon is interrupted by a mad waltz that spirals out of control, changing key with a sense of drunken abandon.
nest...