Fantasie in F Minor for Piano Four-Hands, D.940
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Born January 31, 1797, Vienna
Died November 19, 1828, Vienna

The Fantasie in F Minor for Piano Four-Hands is one of the creations of Schubert's miraculous final year of life, which saw a nearly unbroken rush of masterpieces. Schubert wrote most of the Fantasie in January 1828 but ran into problems and set the work aside for several months, returning to complete it in April. He and his friend Eduard von Bauernfeld gave the first performance on May 9 of that year, six months before the composer's death at age 31.

In early nineteenth-century Vienna, there was a growing market for music that could be played in the home, where there might be only one piano but several pianists, usually amateur musicians. Such music often had an intentionally "social" appeal-it was not especially difficult, and it tended to be pleasing rather than profound. Much of Schubert's four-hand piano music was intended for just such "home" performers (he often wrote music for his students to play together), but the Fantasie in F Minor is altogether different: this work demands first-class performers and contains some of the most wrenching and focused music Schubert ever wrote.

The title "fantasia" suggests a certain looseness of form, but the Fantasie in F Minor is extraordinary for its conciseness. Lasting barely a quarter of an hour, it is in one continuous flow of music that breaks into four clear movements. The very beginning-Allegretto molto moderato-is haunting. Over murmuring accompaniment, the higher voice lays out the wistful first theme, whose halting rhythms and chirping grace notes have caused many to believe that this theme had its origins in Hungarian folk music. The second subject, based on firm dotted rhythms, is treated at length before the music drives directly into the powerful Largo, which is given an almost baroque luxuriance by its trills and double (and triple) dotting. This in turn moves directly into the Allegro vivace, a sparkling scherzo that feels like a very fast waltz; its trio section (marked con delicatezza) ripples along happily in D major. The final section (Schubert marks it simply Tempo I) brings back music from the very beginning, but quickly the wistful opening melody is jostled aside by a vigorous fugue derived from the second subject of the opening section. On tremendous chords and contrapuntal complexity the Fantasiedrives to its climax, only to fall away to the quiet close.