Mrs Noye and her Gossips enter to an F sharp minor distortion of the children's tune, which reflects their mocking attitude. In Noye's song calling for the ark to be built, a flood leitmotiv derived from the first line of the opening hymn recurs as a solemn refrain. The music which accompanies the construction work heavily involves the children's orchestra, and includes recorder trills, pizzicato open strings, and the tapping of oriental temple-blocks. After the brief "quarrel" duet between Noye and his wife in 6/8 time, timpani-led percussion heralds the Voice of God's order to fill the ark. Bugle fanfares announce the arrival of the animals, who march into the ark to a "jauntily innocent" tune in which Roseberry detects the spirit of Mahler; the fanfares punctuate the entire march. The birds are the last group to enter the ark, to the accompaniment of a three-part canon sung by Noye's children and their wives. In the final scene before the storm, where Noye and his family try to persuade Mrs Noye to join them in the ark in G major, the music expresses Mrs Noye's obstinacy by having her reply accompanied by a D sharp pedal which prepares for the Gossips' drinking scherzo in E minor. The slap which Mrs Noye administers when finally persuaded is accompanied by an E major fortissimo.