Chopin - Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor Op. 66 (post.) (1834)
Valentina Igoshina, piano (5:00)
A very good article on the Fantaisie-Impromptu
The Impromptu:
This is one of four impromptus that Chopin composed (and the most famous one!) The
impromptu genre appeared in the 1820s (Jan Hugo Voříšek and Franz Schubert wrote
some, Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt would also write some).
Impromptu means "off the cuff" and these pieces give the illusion of a spontaneous
improvisation. The genre has no composing rules to it, it's design is up to the composer.
The Fantasy:
In the Baroque era, a musical fantasy (Italian: fantazia, French: fantaisie, German: fantasia ,
also meant the design was up to the composer's fancy. But by Mozart's time, fantasia had
also come to mean what we think of today; an imaginary dream-state.
Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu:
This piece was influenced by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which not
coincidentally, was subtitled "quasi una fantasia" ('like a fantasy').
The following work by Chopin differs greatly from Mozart's piece. The work sounds
spontaneous and improvised rather than thought out and planned.
The constant speeding up and slowing down of the tempo gives the impression that
the music is uncontrollably gushing out of the pianist as she struggles to calm it down.
Her fighting for control is different from Mozart's ease of controlling his music.
Rather than music for the public, the music is very private. At the end of the piece the
pianist looks up with a stern expression that seems to say "You were eavesdropping
on my private emotions? That is so rude!" 😃
Chopin's other impromptus:
Impromptu No. 1 in A♭ major, Op. 29 (1837)
Impromptu No. 2 in F♯ major, Op 36 (1839)
Impromptu No. 3 in G♭ major, Op. 51 (1843)
Chopin's other fantaisies:
Fantasy on Polish Airs, in A major, Op. 13 (1828) - for piano & orchestra
Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 (1841)
Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61 (1846)
The following work by Chopin differs greatly from Mozart's piece. The work sounds
spontaneous and improvised rather than thought out and planned.
The constant speeding up and slowing down of the tempo gives the impression that
the music is uncontrollably gushing out of the pianist as she struggles to calm it down.
Her fighting for control is different from Mozart's ease of controlling his music.
Rather than music for the public, the music is very private. At the end of the piece the
pianist looks up with a stern expression that seems to say "You were eavesdropping
on my private emotions? That is so rude!" 😃
Chopin's other impromptus:
Impromptu No. 1 in A♭ major, Op. 29 (1837)
Impromptu No. 2 in F♯ major, Op 36 (1839)
Impromptu No. 3 in G♭ major, Op. 51 (1843)
Chopin's other fantaisies:
Fantasy on Polish Airs, in A major, Op. 13 (1828) - for piano & orchestra
Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 (1841)
Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61 (1846)
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