Two Brief Fantasias

These are two very different fantasias I was inspired to write recently. The one in the “open key”, so to speak, was the last etude in a series of etudes I’ve slowly written over the course of several years. It was meant to be a study in syncopation within 3/4 time, but it had a loose, free-form feel to it, so I named it “Fantasia,” which I associate with pieces that use a freer form of developing material. I thought the piece was a neat idea, but really not that great, to be honest. But you can be the judge of that.

I then set out to make a piece that was specifically a Fantasia, not something that turned into a Fantasia. I prefer the one in F Minor much more.

Let me know what you think 🙂 Thoughts, comments, criticisms all appreciated. [EDIT: Sorry about the weird fonts, I don’t know why it’s like that, and I can’t seem to change them on my Ipad.]

Etude Fantasia — https://app.box.com/s/4ofhxizgnrfia5g2ve908b4591p9yb4q (WAV)

Etude Fantasia — https://app.box.com/s/6flhlln7jf54dhkeykjlz5pn23wsonym (Score)

Fantasia in F Minor — https://app.box.com/s/a0096qgzjeglwwyakhphxbafjzs0bps0 (WAV)

Fantasia in F Minor — https://app.box.com/s/n2kdvkqfzm0sahjfsz153qepk4hq1no6 (Score)

Hi Serge,

These two pieces are both great, although I think the better piece is the F minor.  The etude seems like a collection of ideas that are hanging together, while the F minor seems more like a whole homogenous piece.  I like a lot that while the language you use is tonal, melody driven, classical for want of a better word, the way you use it and the direction the work takes is quite "original".

Regards Mark

The first one is less organised, I mean, it has different material that makes it a bit less coherent.

That doesn't happen with the F minor one, although it has two well defined parts.

Good material anyway.

Thank you both for your comments! I definitely agree with both of you about the first etude. I’ve actually renamed it as a sort of “mini-rhapsody”, mentally. I wish I could get the playback to perform the ending better, it actually feels really neat to personally perform it. But yes, the F Minor one is better.