Wanderer Fantasy
"Wanderer-Fantasie" is the popular name for Opus 15 ( D 760) in C major by Franz Schubert , written in November 1822 . It is a fantasy for piano solo in four movements , some of which are themselves in the classical sonata form and also seem to form a sonata in their arrangement (which becomes clear in the typical order Schnell-Slow-Scherzo-Schnell). On the other hand, there is a close connection between the individual movements, so that the fantasy is also interpreted as a large sonata process. Accordingly, the first set would be the exposure , the second a free implementation , the third one (although highly varied) recapitulation and the fourth would be the virtuose Coda form.
The whole work is based on a single motif , which can be found in its pure form in the melody of the second movement, which Schubert quoted from one of his own songs, Der Wanderer (1816).
The four movements merge seamlessly. The first movement Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo is in C major and in 4/4 time, the rhythm of the basic figure (quarter - 2 eighth - quarter - 2 eighth) is particularly characteristic. The second movement, an Adagio , which forms the nucleus of the work, is surprisingly in C sharp minor and is a variation movement in which Schubert comes to the most varied of solutions (from the polyphonic movement to the delicately played melody, to powerful dotted chord towers up to rapid tremoli ). The third movement, Presto in A flat major , takes up the basic motif in 3/4 time and in dotted version. The Finale ( Allegro ) is again in C major. After a fugitive beginning, Schubert looks for new ways of expression, even more than in the previous movements. With his orchestral compositional technique he already anticipates the work of Franz Liszt by using chord tremolos, extended octave and chord passages and, above all, arpeggios to a previously unknown extent. Schubert himself admitted that he had never mastered the work (“The devil should play this stuff!”) And it is accordingly known as his most technically demanding work.
The work has a certain connection with the work of Franz Liszt, especially in terms of piano technology. He was so impressed by the tonal possibilities that were hidden in the Wanderer Fantasy that he performed them frequently and also wrote his own version for piano and orchestra.
literature
- Otto Emil Schumann : Wanderer Fantasy Werk 15 , in: Handbuch der Klaviermusik , 4th edition. Heinrichhofen's Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1979, ISBN 3-7959-0006-9 , pp. 320–323.