This is the only one of Bruckner's symphonies to begin with a slow introduction, but all the others, except Symphony No. 1, begin with sections that are "like" introductions "in tempo", easing into the main material, like the opening of Beethoven's Ninth. It eventually leans heavily toward D major without actually tonicizing it. The introduction progresses into a main movement in sonata form. After a climax in A major, the texture is thinned until only a violin tremolo remains. This tremolo, starts on A, then moves to D, suggesting that D will become a tonal focal point. Instead, the opening theme is in B minor: