Premiered in 1957, this colorful 20-minute symphonic work "is a musical dissertation on an announced subject" and is divided into six sections. The sequence of fanfare-like ("tah-dah") repeated gestures that make up the subject is first stated in a somewhat strident manner in the initial section, "A preliminary survey. Moderato-Larghetto." This soon modulates into a romantic landscape with sweeping strings and melissimatic passages in the woodwinds. "A more disturbing view. Con moto e risoluto" follows, and the drama of the music instantly intensifies, reminding one of suspense movie soundtracks, with the strings reaching in tortured gestures toward the higher registers. "A gayer one. Vivace" follows immediately in fast, lilting 6/8 time, like music at a country fair, which turns into a city scene, and then into a wild car ride. "A contemplative one. Andante tranquillo" re-states the main subject in its almost pure form using the winds and strings. The strings then begin to tremolo, forming the ground for an impassioned, lyrical violin duet heard soaring above theme. A lovely wind interlude follows, with the strings then evoking, in triple meter figures, memories of the countryside, both lyrical and disturbing. "An emphatic restatement of the subject, and a brief return to three" has the brass choir boldly re-stating the theme with rushing strings surrounding them. The 6/8 lilt of the third section returns with offbeat accents, and the complex interweaving of lively, suspenseful lines that flow into each other, never resolving but continuously flying off at other angles. The coda is "A peroration, followed by a quiet close, " an emphatic summing up of the variations to which the main statement has been subjected. A lighthearted version of the subject in the winds and a lovely solo violin line conclude the work.

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