Frédéric Chopin'sFantaisie-Impromptu (Polish:Fantazja-Impromptu) inC♯ minor,Op. posth. 66,WN 46 is a solopianocomposition. It was composed in1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none of his unpublished manuscripts be published.[1] TheFantaisie-Impromptu is one of Chopin's most frequently performed and popular compositions.[2]: 189
TheFantaisie-Impromptu was written in 1834, as were theFour Mazurkas (Op. 17) and theGrande valse brillante in E♭ major (Op. 18), but unlike these other works, Chopin never published theFantaisie-Impromptu. Instead,Julian Fontana published it posthumously, along with other waltzesOpp. 69 and 70.[3] It is unknown why Chopin did not release theFantaisie-Impromptu.James Huneker called parts of it "mawkish" and "without nobility".[4]Ernst Oster conducted a technical examination of the piece which hints at similarities between theFantaisie-Impromptu andLudwig van Beethoven's"Moonlight" Sonata (Quasi una fantasia), which he cites as the reason for Chopin's reluctance to publish the piece. It is also recognized that it resembles the Impromptu in E♭ major, Op. 89[5] composed byIgnaz Moscheles and published in 1834, the same year Chopin composed hisFantaisie-Impromptu.[6]
The mystery may have been solved in 1960 when pianistArthur Rubinstein acquired the "Album of the Baroness d'Este" which had been sold at auction in Paris. The album contained a manuscript of theFantaisie-Impromptu in Chopin's own hand, dated 1835, stating on the title page in French "Composed for the Baroness d'Este by Frédéric Chopin". The facts of its authenticity having been "guaranteed by the French authorities" and that it shows "a delicate care for detail" and "many improvements in harmony and style" in comparison to the previously published version, Rubinstein considered absolute proof that it is the finished work. In his preface to the "Rubinstein Edition", published by G. Schirmer, Inc. in 1962, Rubinstein surmises that the words "Composed for" in place of a dedication imply that Chopin received a paid commission for the work, so he had actually sold it to the Baroness.[7]
Ernst Oster observes that theFantaisie-Impromptu draws many of its harmonic and tonal elements fromBeethoven'sMoonlight Sonata, which is also in C♯ minor, and from the third movement in particular. Two measures after the melody sets in, an abrupt run features the same notes, only one octave higher, like the cadenza in the sonata's third movement (Presto agitato). The climax on a6
4 chord is similar in both pieces.[2] Additionally, theFantaisie-Impromptu's middle part and the second movement of theMoonlight Sonata are in D♭ major. The first and third movements are in C♯ minor.
For those and other reasons, Ernst Oster writes, "Chopin understood Beethoven to a degree that no one who has written on the C♯ minor Sonata or theFantaisie-Impromptu has ever understood him. ... TheFantaisie-Impromptu is perhaps the only instance where one genius discloses to us—if only by means of a composition of his own—what he actually hears in the work of another genius."[2]: 207
The piece uses manycross-rhythms (the right hand playssixteenth notes against the left hand playingtriplets) and a ceaselessly moving note figuration, and is incut time (2
2). The openingtempo is markedallegro agitato. The tempo changes tolargo and latermoderato cantabile when the key changes to D♭ major, theenharmonic equivalent of the more obscure tonic major key of C♯ major, that is, theparallel major of C♯ minor.
The piece then changes topresto (although some versions of the score incorporate acoda, meaning that the original tempo ofallegro agitato is repeated) where it continues in C♯ minor as before. It concludes in an ambiguous fantasy-like ending, in a quiet and mysterious way, where the left hand replays the first few notes of the moderato section theme, while the right hand continues playing sixteenth notes (semiquavers). The piece resolves and gently ends on a C♯ major rolled chord (aPicardy third).
The melody of theFantaisie-Impromptu's middle section was used in the popularVaudeville song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows". That theme wasquoted in Variation 10 ofFederico Mompou'sVariations on a Theme of Chopin, which is otherwise based on Chopin'sPrelude No. 7 in A major.George Crumb'sMakrokosmos, Volume 1: 11. Dream Images (Love-Death Music) (Gemini) includes three quotations from theFantaisie-Impromptu's middle section.
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