NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Fantasia (music)

The fantasia (also English: fantasy, fancy, German: fantasie, French: fantaisie) is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Improvisation is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of ones immediate environment. ... The term musical form refers to two related concepts: the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type -- see Multi-movement forms below) the structure of a particular piece (for example, a piece can be written in...

In the Baroque and Classical music eras, a fantasia was typically a piece for keyboard instruments with alternating sections of rapid passagework and fugal texture. From the Baroque period, J. S. Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903, for harpsichord; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, for organ; and Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537, for organ are examples. For an example from the Classical period, see Mozart's Fantasia in D minor, K. 397 (see Köchel) for fortepiano. In contemporary music, Busoni's Fantasia Contrappuntistica or Corigliano's Fantasia on an ostinato are examples of a fantasia. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1730 through 1820, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. ... In music, a fugue (IPA: ) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as voices, irrespective of whether the work is vocal or instrumental. ... Bach in a 1748 portrait by Haussmann Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. â€“ 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it... Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... Fantasia No. ... (For a selective list organized by genre, with commentary, see List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) The KÃ¶chel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von KÃ¶chel. ... Fortepiano by Paul McNulty after Walter & Sohn, ca. ... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 â€“ July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... Fantasia Contrappuntistica is a solo piano piece composed by Ferruccio Busoni. ... John Corigliano (b. ... In music, an ostinato (derived from Italian: stubborn, compare English: obstinate) is a motif or phrase which is persistently repeated at the same pitch. ...

The term also referred in the Baroque era (more specifically British Tudor music) to pieces for viols, characteristically- though not always- alternating, in this case rapid fugal sections with slower sections in slow notes and sometimes clashing harmonies. According to the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music's entry the instrumental fantasia was closely related in its history and form to the motet. Henry Purcell's fantasias are the last Baroque representatives of the breed, although Walter Willson Cobbett, in the opening decades of the 20th century, attempted to resurrect something of this style via a competition, to which works like John Ireland's and Frank Bridge's phantasie-trios, Benjamin Britten's phantasie-quartet (for oboe and strings) and other music owe their existence. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (IPA: [1]; September 10 (?) [2], 1659â€“November 21, 1695), a Baroque composer, is generally considered to be one of Englands greatest composers. ... Walter Willson Cobbett (born Blackheath, Britain, 1847, died London 1937) was a British businessman and amateur violinist, and editor/author of Cobbetts Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... John Nicholson Ireland (13 August 1879 â€“ 12 June 1962) was an English composer. ... Frank Bridge (February 26, 1879 â€“ January 10, 1941) was an English composer. ... Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 Lowestoft, Suffolk - December 4, 1976 Aldeburgh, Suffolk) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ...

In the Romantic period, two contradictory trends greatly affected the fantasia: one was the decline of formal improvisation as a test of the compositional technique; the other was the move by composers toward freer forms. Chopin's Fantasy in F minor op. 49, combines various keyboard textures of the stile brillante with the classical sonata paradigm, resulting in a work of unorthodox but sophisticated form. Schumann's numerous 'fantasy pieces' are character works on a smaller scale, often bearing descriptive titles. The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... The only known photograph of FrÃ©dÃ©ric Chopin, believed to have been taken by Louis-Auguste Bisson in 1849. ... For others with the same name see Robert Schumann (disambiguation). ...