Benutzer:Meier99/Fantasie in f-Moll

Franz Schubert in 1827 (portrait by Anton Depauly from 1828)

The Fantasie in F minor von Franz Schubert, D.940 (Op. posth. 103), für Klavier zu vier Händen (zwei Personen spielen an einer Klaviatur), gehört zu Schuberts bedeutendsten Kompositionen für mehrere Klavierspieler und zu seinen wichtigsten Klavierkompositionen überhaupt. Schubert komponierte es 1828, also in seinem letzten Lebensjahr, und widmete es seiner Schülerin, Karoline von Esterházy.

Geschichtliches

Schubert beganb mit der Aufzeichnung der Fantasie im Januar 1828 in Wien. Das Wek wurde im März desselben Jahres vollendet und im Mai uraufgeführt. Schuberts Freund Eduard von Bauernfeld notierte in seinem Tagebuch am 9. Mai, dass Franz Schubert und Franz Lachner ein bemerkenswertes Klavierduett aufgeführt hätten. Das Werk war Karoline Esterházy gewidmet, in die Schubert heimlich verliebt war.

Schubert starm im November des Jahres. Nach seinem Tod ließen seine Freunde und die Familie eine Anzahl seiner Werke publizieren, darunter auch dieses Werk. Es wurde publziert im März 1829 bei Anton Diabelli. Das Originalmanuskript ist in Österreichischen Staatsbibliothek archiviert.

Structure

The Fantasia is divided into four movements, that are interconnected and played without pause. A typical performance takes about 20 minutes.

1. Allegro molto moderato
2. Largo
3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4. Finale. Allegro molto moderato

The basic idea of a fantasia with four connected movements also appears in Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, and represents a stylistic bridge between the traditional sonata form and the essentially free-form tone poem. The basic structure of the two fantasies is essentially the same: allegro, slow movement, scherzo, allegro with fugue. The form of this work, with its relatively tight structure (more so than the fantasias of Beethoven and Mozart), was influential on the work of Franz Liszt, who arranged the Wanderer Fantasy as a piano concerto, among other transcriptions he made of Schubert's music.

A page from the autograph manuscript, showing a portion of the second (left-side) part from the fourth movement.

First movement

The piece opens with a lyrical melody with dotted rhythms that is reminiscent of the Hungarian style. The theme is eventually repeated in F major, before briefly repeating in F minor, and transitioning into a somber, almost funereal, second theme. After developing the two themes, he eventually returns to a version of the second theme in F major, which modulates into FVorlage:Music minor for the start of the second movement.

Second movement

The second movement opens with an angry, somewhat turbulent fortissimo theme in FVorlage:Music minor. While marked largo, the frequently double-dotted first theme lends a great deal of tension to this movement. Eventually the first theme gives way to a quiet, lyrical second theme. The first theme is reprised, ending on the CVorlage:Music major dominant. Schubert had recently heard Paganini's second violin concerto, whose second movement inspired the themes here.

Third movement

Following the FVorlage:Music minor, agitated second movement, the third movement scherzo is a bright, lively movement in the same key, reminiscent of the scherzos of other works Schubert wrote at this time, like those of his piano trios. After a delicate D major trio, the scherzo returns, at first seemingly in FVorlage:Music minor. The repeat of the scherzo shifts between A major and FVorlage:Music minor, ultimately ending on CVorlage:Music octaves that drive into a transition back toward F minor for the finale.

Finale

The finale begins with a restatement of the first movement's primary theme in both F minor and F major, before transitioning into a fugue based on its second theme. The fugue builds to a climax, ending abruptly on the C major dominant, instead of resolving into either F major or minor. After a bar of silence, the first theme briefly reprises, building rapidly to concluding chords that echo the second theme before subsiding into a quiet end. It has been called "the most remarkable cadence in the whole of Schubert's work," as he manages to condense the dichotomies of the two themes into the final eight bars of the work.

Recordings

The fantasy has been recorded numerous times, including by the following notable performers:

• Alfred Brendel with Evelyne Crochet on Vox Box
• Sviatoslav Richter and Benjamin Britten on Decca Records/BBC Legends
• Evgeny Kissin and James Levine on RCA Victor
• Katia and Marielle Labèque on Kml Recordings
• Justus Frantz and Christoph Eschenbach on EMI
• Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia on Sony Classical
• Duo Tal & Groethuysen on Sony Classical
• Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky, Emil and Elena Gilels, and Maria João Pires with Ricardo Castro on Deutsche Grammophon
• Jörg Demus and Paul Badura-Skoda several times, including on Westminster, Auvidis Valois, and Audax
• Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin on US Decca
• Robert and Gaby Casadesus on Columbia Masterworks
• Alexandre Tharaud and Zhu Xiao-Mei on Harmonia Mundi Fr.

References

• Franz Schubert: Werke für Klavier zu Vier Händen, Band III. Hrsg.: Kahl, Willi. G. Henle Verlag, Munich 1986, OCLC 3681881.  Musical score.
• Alfred Einstein: Schubert: A Musical Portrait. Oxford University Press, New York 1951, OCLC 602553. 
• Dallas A Weekly, Arganbright, Nancy: Schubert's Music for Piano Four-Hands. Pro/Am Music Resources Inc, White Plains 1990, ISBN 978-0-912483-55-9. 
• Walter (ed) Frisch: Schubert: Critical and Analytical Studies. University of Nebraska Press, 1986, ISBN 978-0-8032-6892-0. 
• Christopher Howard Gibbs: The Life of Schubert. Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-521-59512-4. 
• R. Larry Todd: Nineteenth-century piano music. Taylor & Francis, 2004, ISBN 978-0-415-96890-4. 
• Brian Newbould: Schubert studies. Ashgate, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85928-253-3. 
• Norman McKay, Elizabeth, Schubert's string and piano duos in context. in Newbould, Brian (1998). Schubert studies, Ashgate, 1998, p. 62-111.

Audio

Audio-Aufnahme des 1. und 4. Satzes der Fantasie (7 M. 40 S.^ⓘ

Weblinks

• Fantasia in F minor for piano four-hands: Noten und Audiodateien im International Music Score Library Project
• Recording of Fantasia from the Jerusalem Music Centre in MP3 format, performed by Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg (archived on the Wayback Machine)
• Vienna and Schubert: Fantasy in F Minor, D. 940 - Professor Christopher Hogwood CBE (Discussion and performance). Gresham College, 11. Oktober 2012, abgerufen im Dezember 2013. 

Category:Piano music by Franz Schubert Category:Compositions for piano four-hands Category:1828 compositions Schubert Category:Compositions in F minor Schubert