There follows a fuller account of the Liszt work briefly described in Chapter 7.

The ‘Rẻminiscences’ are best conceived as falling into three linked movements:

I [Introduction and first movement: key centre G]

i. (bars 1–27) Tempo giusto G minor

An introduction: the chosen key is that of Bellini's Sinfonia but the material is that that accompanies the assembling of the Gauls for the mistletoe ceremony. Startling is the evocation of an Italian operatic tutti in four-part ff chords in the centre of the keyboard, almost as if Liszt were really trying to suggest the ‘red-hot lump of metal’ that Tovey liked to evoke in describing the brass writing in Verdi's early scoring. Note too that Bellini's timpani are replaced by quasi-side-drum (i.e. more military-sounding) rolls. In the third phrase Liszt changes Bellini's harmony to introduce diminished sevenths; these then dominate the fourth phrase, cast in the form of high spread (bardic?) chords. The music breaks down into a freely composed, cadenza-like link, making striking use of chromatic colour.

ii. (bars 28–88) Quasi andante G major etc.

This begins as a straight, though very rich, transcription of the introductory processional music from the Coro d'Introduzione – both its scene-setting music and its banda march. It is initially the pianistic colour of the transcription that is so arresting. Not content with simply reproducing Bellini's orchestral texture, Liszt thickens and darkens it, doubling each strand at the lower octave, and turning the throbbing pedal note into harp-like fifths, octaves and twelfths. He adds an additional chromatic nuance, where Bellini had already shown the way, at 38.