The first movement is in sonata form, with a main theme based on the whole-tone scale.
The whole-tone scale was another source of interest for Liszt.
The whole-tone scale is also maximally even, for instance adjacent notes are separated only by whole-tones.
Debussy uses the whole-tone scale a lot in his music, but he was not the first to do so.
Messiaen's first mode, also called the whole-tone scale, is divided into six groups of two notes each.
A suspended, almost immobile quality is the most obvious characteristic of the whole-tone scale.
From a melodic point of view, the whole-tone scale has weak features.
The six timpani are tuned to a whole-tone scale, a quarter tone lower than the piano.
The music uses modal and whole-tone scales, as well as a great deal of chromaticism.
There is a lovely effusiveness in these songs and a curious fascination with whole-tone scales.
