The rest of the strings and the Wagner tubas set themselves in full tone on the third beat of the second bar. The latter are used here for the first time in the Ninth Symphony, a delayed method Bruckner has used in his Seventh Symphony. Here, at the beginning of his mourning song for the death of Wagner, Bruckner calls for these instruments to enter, with their round and dark sound, for the first time. The Adagio of the Seventh begins with a full chord accompaniment, unlike in the Ninth. While in the Seventh, the basic key of C minor is set from the beginning, the basic key of E major in the Ninth is initially completely avoided, only called forth after a lengthy delay.
