Dante Symphony - Purgatorio - Magnificat

The symphony concludes with a short setting for female or boys' choir of the first two lines of the Magnificat, culminating in a series of Hosannas and Hallelujahs:

Curiously, the Magnificat is not mentioned anywhere in the Commedia; nor is there any Hallelujah; the Hosanna, however, is heard both in the Earthly Paradise of the Purgatorio and in the Paradiso.

In the score, Liszt directs that the choir be hidden from the audience:

The female or boys' choir is not to be placed in front of the orchestra, but is to remain invisible together with the harmonium, or in the case of an amphitheatrical arrangement of the orchestra, is to be placed right at the top. If there is a gallery above the orchestra, it would be suitable to have the choir and harmonium positioned there. In any case, the harmonium must remain near the choir.

The time signature changes to a combination of 6/4 and 2/3. The choir intones the words against a shimmering backdrop of divided strings, rocking figurations in the woodwind and arpeggios played by two harps.

The tempo quickens and the music becomes gradually louder as the time signature changes to 9/4 or 3/3. The choir sings triumphantly of God my saviour.

The tempo drops to Un poco più lento, a solo trumpet call dies away to silence, after which a solo voice sings the opening line of the Magnificat in B major.

The whole orchestra resounds with the same phrase. After another brief silence, the choir sings a chorale to the second line of the Magnificat, accompanied by a solo cello, bassoons and clarinets.

In the triumphant coda the divided chorus sings Hosanna and Hallelujah in a series of carefully crafted modulations, which reflect Dante's ascent sphere-by-sphere towards the Empyrean; this is in marked contrast to the first movement, where key shifts were sudden and disjointed. As the Hosannas descend step by step from G♯ down to C, the Hallelujahs rise from G♯ up to F. The whole chorus then joins together in a final, triumphant Hallelujah on the dominant F♯. In this passage, the bass steps down the whole-tone scale from G♯ to A♯. Liszt was proud of this innovatory use of the whole-tone scale, and mentions it in a letter to Julius Schäffer, the music director of the Schwerin orchestra.

The orchestra concludes with a quiet plagal cadence in B major; the timpani add a gentle authentic cadence of their own. The work ends molto pianissimo.

The second ending, which follows rather than replaces the first ending, is marked Più mosso, quasi Allegro. The ppp of the first ending gives way to ff. Majestic trumpets and trombones – accompanied by rising scales in the strings and woodwind, and by chords in the horns, harps, harmonium and strings – set the scene for a reappearance of the women's chorus. Three repetitions of a single word, Hallelujah, bring the work to a towering conclusion with a plagal cadence in B major.