The long third movement is the musical heart of the symphony
viola section is divided in two
several places
Two technical points on this movement
in order to preserve the evenness of tonal balance
the viola parts have been notated throughout as divided, even when they play in unison (except for the final bars 197-9). (2) In order to obtain a semblance of crescendo and decrescendo on the timpani rolls at the close of the movement, it has been necessary to notate some bars using shorter note values than what Berlioz wrote (bars 177, 182-3, 188-9; the same applies to a few passages earlier, bars 14, 16, 159). A transcription of bars 175-196 as notated in the original score is available on this site; in this notation the crescendi and decrescendi of the timpani do not reproduce as they are meant to.