The orchestra introduces the main theme of the piece with a powerful motif. A story exists that, to mock his critics, Liszt and his son-in-law, Hans von Bülow, put the words Das versteht ihr alle nicht, haha! (none of you understand this, ha-ha) to the notes of the opening two bars. The piano then comes in with an octave passage, spanning four octaves. A duet ensues between the piano and the clarinet in a quiet and peaceful passage, which is soon taken over again by the main theme. Following this, the piano plays fast, downward chromatic octaves, before recapitulating a section from earlier in the movement, this time in G major. The movement finishes with the main theme played by the strings while the piano imitates a harp with fast, quiet arpeggios, culminating with an upwards chromatic scale in sixths, diminishing to volume.
