# Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy D.760



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Wow, just listened to this for the first time in a while and I nearly had an aneurysm or a brain orgasm. From nowhere I just couldn't stop crying and became so overwhelmed by the ending that I could feel my head hurt. Why does that happen? 

Do others rate this piece?


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Yes, but not to the extreme extent that you seem to! I do enjoy it though, and I'm glad you get so much from it.


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

I hear you. I was amazed by this work too, long long time ago, it was one of my favorite works for piano, it could still be.


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

Kempff's rendition is my favorite by the way.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Wasn't much into solo piano music until I heard this one and converted on the fly.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Been one of my favorites for years. I especially love Sviatoslav Richter's 1963 recording on EMI.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

No, I've never rated this work. I put it far behind Schubert's impromptus / klavierstucke, the Moments Musicaux and mature piano sonatas (D.664 - 960). I find more charm even in his early piano sonatas,many of which are fragmentary. I've never been sure why, either.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I love the version I've heard (Murray Perahia). I'll add the other recommendations to my list.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

TurnaboutVox said:


> No, I've never rated this work. I put it far behind Schubert's impromptus / klavierstucke, the Moments Musicaux and mature piano sonatas (D.664 - 960). I find more charm even in his early piano sonatas,many of which are fragmentary. I've never been sure why, either.


Nevertheless, it may be an important piece of music, an inspiration for the Liszt sonata and the Schumann Fantasie. Liszt orchestrated it, of course.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

I love the Wanderer Fantasy and I consider it one of Schubert's best works. It is one of the few works in which he made extensive use of counterpoint, particularly in the violent fugue in the finale. Its use of angry counterpoint reminds me of Beethoven (and that's the highest compliment that I can possibly give to any work.)


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Nevertheless, it may be an important piece of music, an inspiration for the Liszt sonata and the Schumann Fantasie. Liszt orchestrated it, of course.


I have heard it described as the least Schubert-like Schubert composition for solo piano. I don't understand my indifference to it - and I certainly appreciate both the Schumann Op. 17 Fantasie in C and the Liszt piano sonata in B minor.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

TurnaboutVox said:


> No, I've never rated this work. I put it far behind Schubert's impromptus / klavierstucke, the Moments Musicaux and mature piano sonatas (D.664 - 960). I find more charm even in his early piano sonatas,many of which are fragmentary. I've never been sure why, either.


Hmm. My first recording of Wanderer Fantasy was on Vox Turnabout with Brendel.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

realdealblues said:


> Been one of my favorites for years. I especially love Sviatoslav Richter's 1963 recording on EMI.


Is that the recording with the Dvorak cello concerto?


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## arnerich (Aug 19, 2016)

Schubert had a hard time playing the Wanderer fantasy and supposedly said "the devil may play it for I cannot!".


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

It's probably me but I don't like it.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Razumovskymas said:


> It's probably me but I don't like it.


No, it's entirely Schubert's fault. I find his piano music boring.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Pugg said:


> Is that the recording with the Dvorak cello concerto?


No the Dvorak piano concerto with Kleiber


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The Wanderer Fantasy is a truly great piece of music. Interestingly Schubert himself could never play it through completely as it was too difficult for him. But it is a masterpiece of such dimensions that Liszt thought it worth orchestrating. 
There are a number of great recordings of the piece including Richter and Pollini. I have stacks of recordings of the piece but these two are right up there with the best.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Phil loves classical said:


> No, it's entirely Schubert's fault. I find his piano music boring.


That is your problem I'm afraid. Many of us find his music entrancing.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> No, it's entirely Schubert's fault. I find his piano music boring.


I find all his piano music too sweet except the Wanderer Fantasy which I find not sweet enough. It's like he tried to make up for all his sweetness in that piece of music.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Razumovskymas said:


> I find all his piano music too sweet except the Wanderer Fantasy which I find not sweet enough. It's like he tried to make up for all his sweetness in that piece of music.


Do you even find the D960 sonata & the op 90 #3 Impromptu too sweet?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

DaveM said:


> Do you even find the D960 sonata & the op 90 #3 Impromptu too sweet?


Nope :tiphat:


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## chromatic owl (Jan 4, 2017)

Pugg said:


> Is that the recording with the Dvorak cello concerto?


I think it is the one with the 'Trout' quintet.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Listening to Richter play the Fantasy. Just incredible music making.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

DaveM said:


> Do you even find the D960 sonata & the op 90 #3 Impromptu too sweet?


I'll listen to them again and try to come up with a more nuanced view :tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DavidA said:


> No the Dvorak piano concerto with Kleiber


I thank you , that's the one I was after. :tiphat:


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Phil loves classical said:


> No, it's entirely Schubert's fault. I find his piano music boring.


That's a shame because you are missing out. Try listening to the 2nd movement of D.959 and see if you think he writes boring music, still. There are of course many more amazing examples I could cite but you probably know that already.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

beetzart said:


> That's a shame because you are missing out. Try listening to the 2nd movement of D.959 and see if you think he writes boring music, still. There are of course many more amazing examples I could cite but you probably know that already.


I was exaggerating. I just don't find his piano music really outstanding. I much prefer the music of your idol, Ludwig.


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## chromatic owl (Jan 4, 2017)

Phil loves classical said:


> No, it's entirely Schubert's fault. I find his piano music boring.


A long time ago, I used to think that, too. Then I heard No. 6 from the Moments musicaux and my life was changed.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

It's a fine piece, though my reaction to it is more muted than OP. I have a recording by Arrau, which is decidedly dramatic.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Pat Fairlea said:


> It's a fine piece, though my reaction to it is more muted than OP. I have a recording by Arrau, which is decidedly dramatic.


I have never had such a reaction to this piece before even though I have always admired it. It was just something about the rudimentary fugato at the start of the 4th movement that got me and the climatic build up towards a barnstorming conclusion. Strange what music does to you at times.


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## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

I'm amazed anyone can listen through that thrilling finale and remain unmoved. I only have a recording on cassette tape bought several decades ago, Pollini at the piano. Schumann's op 17 Fantasie is on the other side.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Chris said:


> I'm amazed anyone can listen through that thrilling finale and remain unmoved. I only have a recording on cassette tape bought several decades ago, Pollini at the piano. Schumann's op 17 Fantasie is on the other side.


Agree fully. The ending is just monumental and to think he wrote a piece that was too hard for him to play.

BTW I notice you are from the Wirral, do you happen to be a Tranmere fan at all? Only I support Dover Athletic.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sviatoslav Richter plays Schubert - Wanderer Fantasy in C major, D 760 
:clap:


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## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

beetzart said:


> Agree fully. The ending is just monumental and to think he wrote a piece that was too hard for him to play.
> 
> BTW I notice you are from the Wirral, do you happen to be a Tranmere fan at all? Only I support Dover Athletic.


Hi Beetzart, fellow National League follower  . Yes I do support Tranmere but I only go to three or four matches a season. I'm still in mourning over the team just missing out on promotion. A few weeks ago I thought we might be meeting Dover in the playoffs but you were pipped by Aldershot. I saw Aldershot at Prenton Park a couple of months ago and they were pretty lively; match ended 2-2.

This might be perplexing to overseas followers of UK football. Tranmere? Dover?


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> Is that the recording with the Dvorak cello concerto?


Hey Pugg, if your asking about the pairing, then yes, I have seen the CD with the Dvorak Cello Concerto using the Schubert Wanderer Fantasy as filler material.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

realdealblues said:


> Hey Pugg, if your asking about the pairing, then yes, I have seen the CD with the Dvorak Cello Concerto using the Schubert Wanderer Fantasy as filler material.


Thank you, I was almost sure it was out there. :tiphat:


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Chris said:


> Hi Beetzart, fellow National League follower  . Yes I do support Tranmere but I only go to three or four matches a season. I'm still in mourning over the team just missing out on promotion. A few weeks ago I thought we might be meeting Dover in the playoffs but you were pipped by Aldershot. I saw Aldershot at Prenton Park a couple of months ago and they were pretty lively; match ended 2-2.
> 
> This might be perplexing to overseas followers of UK football. Tranmere? Dover?


I watched the final and can only begin to imagine how gutted you must feel considering how hardly anyone from FGR decided to turn up Wembley. You must have out supported them by 12 to 1. Still, it gives our manager the chance to say what a massive ex-league club you are next season when you beat us again!


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Very little has been mentioned about the orchestrated version (Liszt). I actually prefer it, likely because it's the first version of it I heard as a young kid. The work lends itself to orchestration because of how much the solo work demands of the lone pianist. Maybe I looked at it as close to the piano concerto Schubert never wrote.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DaveM said:


> Very little has been mentioned about the orchestrated version (Liszt). I actually prefer it, likely because it's the first version of it I heard as a young kid. The work lends itself to orchestration because of how much the solo work demands of the lone pianist. Maybe I looked at it as close to the piano concerto Schubert never wrote.


And a very good piano player also that Theodor Gheorghiu.:tiphat:


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## Wigmar (7 mo ago)

DavidA said:


> Listening to Richter play the Fantasy. Just incredible music making.


Fascinating to listen how Richter (1963) plays the theme from the Lied 'Der Wanderer' D 489, great performance


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Pollini left me cold in the Wanderer, I'll give Richter a shot.


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## GMB (10 mo ago)

I believe Schubert wrote it for a virtuoso to play, which is why he couldn't play it himself. A touching story! I admire the work but don't love it, probably for that reason. I thought Richter's performance was dreadful, hard-driven and heartless. A surprise after his take on D960!


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

The piece often gets the hammer-and-bang-treatment, not even Richter can completely avoid that. Try to find Gelber/EMI from the 1970s for a more "elegant" version.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

Kempff is my go-to but I sometimes listen this for my hammer-and-bang treatment.  He goes berserk at the finale:





(Julius Katchen - Salle Gaveau, 1967)


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## Wigmar (7 mo ago)

Highwayman said:


> Kempff is my go-to but I sometimes listen this for my hammer-and-bang treatment.  He goes berserk at the finale:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, if there is a recording with less temperament in the 'forte' passages, I would prefer such one. 
Apart from that, I think Richter's phrasing in the 'Wanderer' theme, i.e. taken from the Lied 'Der Wanderer' is indeed very good.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I think there is a historical (late 1930s?) recording with Edwin Fischer (who didn't record any of the Schubert sonatas but shorter pieces) but I am not sure I ever heard it; I certainly would hope Fischer to be not so "bangy".


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

I am a fan of the Richter as well and the way the piece is written then there has to be a certain amount of 'hammer and bang' as someone described it in the first movement as that is the way that it is written by Schubert. I feel that Schubert is trying to use the "Sturm und Drang" of his idol Beethoven in that movement. Also note that for that movement Schubert's direction is to play it Allegro con fuoco which Richter definitely does.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Richter’s performance may have been the first Schubert piano music I bought - pretty much blindly at the time. I didn’t care for it, and didn’t listen to the work for decades. When the EMI CD Richter box set was released I listened to it again. Still didn’t like it.

I do like Kempff’s Schubert sonata set (as well as a number of other Schubert piano recordings). Maybe I need to try Kempff’s _Fantasy._


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