Inspection of the sketches for the Finale reveals a number of clear innovations beyond Bruckner’s usual methods; these new ideas require no interpretation on the part of the critic or completer. Thus the initially quiet A1 theme, the bold unison A2 theme in D minor, the spare but lyrical B1 song-theme in G major, and the transitional theme which embodies a long crescendo similar to the one used in the first movement of the Seventh, called in the accompanying table Bx, constitute among them an arch structure, in which B1 is a derivative of A2, and Bx is the inversion of A1. Here are short samples of these four themes, which should make these relationships clear. The A1 theme, over a drum roll on G ► ex. 1 (A1) , the unison A2 theme ► ex. 2 (A2) , and the B1 theme, which is very close to A2 except that the first note is no longer a long note ► ex. 3 (B1) . This is the theme destined to be the triumphant Alleluia at the end but here it is frail and hesitant. As is typical in Bruckner, particularly in the later symphonies beginning with the Sixth and especially in the Eighth, after an enclave of slower and more lyrical and meditative music like the one here called B2 in the table, the B1 theme in its final statement is given a rich and enhanced re-orchestration ► ex. 4 (B1 climax) . After that appears the Bx theme which is clearly an inversion of A1 ► ex. 5 (B2) . These four themes all include the double-dotted quarter note, along with in A1 and Bx a short phrase with a dotted eighth note, and establish an unbroken toccata-like texture. Such a relationship among the various components of the A and B theme groups had never been undertaken by him before.

The long crescendo of the Bx theme leads directly to a grand chorale for the fifteen brasses, including the tuben which have swiftly changed their instruments from horns 5–8. The chorale is in E major, with a triplet accompaniment for the violins which constitutes a completely different but also toccata-like texture. This C-theme was completely scored by Bruckner in all details. It is this chorale which was quoted by Gottfried von Einem in his Bruckner Dialogue of 1971. From this point on, there are very few measures in the whole movement which do not include one or the other of these two toccata textures. The chorale has four phrases and a short fifth phrase; here are the first two phrases ► ex. 6 (C, chorale) . The short fifth phrase leads to a sort of catastrophe of dissonance and descending scales ► ex. 7 (first catastrophe) , and then, for the codetta, we hear the flute intone the accompanimental figure of the Te Deum ► ex. 8 (K, Te Deum) . Considering how much this theme is used in the following material, it is impossible to think of it as part of a transition to the Te Deum as a makeshift finale. Clearly Bruckner wanted the allusion to be an integral part of the melodic material of the instrumental movement. To conclude the exposition, I have used eight whole notes, six for the flute and two for the oboe, drawn from an experimental sheet in Mus.Hs. 6085, cadence upon A, the dominant major.

Bruckner originally intended the exposition to conclude in the relative major, F, as shown particularly in sketches preserved in the library of the Jagiellonian University at Krakau. But later sketches, in one or another medial layer, show the triplet ostinato simply proceeding on the note E to the beginning of the development in A flat. Then the still later sheet from 6085 seems to be a trial of various ways of ending the exposition and beginning the development, and the eight whole notes suggest the cadence on A. If this is the correct cadence tonality, it would be an innovation for Bruckner, who always concluded his minor-mode expositions in the relative major, not the dominant major. (The exposition of the finale of the D minor symphony of 1869 tends as usual toward the relative major, but at the last moment it veers toward the dominant major with the cadence point being the first chord of the development, not the last chord before the development.)