# D.940 Fantaise in F minor for Piano Four-hands



## peeyaj

The Fantasia in F minor by Franz Schubert, D.940 (Op. posth. 103), for piano four-hands (two players at one piano), is one of Schubert's most important works for more than one pianist and one of his most important piano works altogether. Schubert composed it in 1828, the last year of his life, and dedicated it to his pupil, Karoline Esterházy.

Musicologist Christopher Gibbs has characterized the work as "among not only his greatest but his most original" compositions for piano duet.



> Schubert wrote more popular works for piano, four hands and longer works for piano, four hands, but he never wrote a better work for piano, four hands than the Fantaisie in F minor, D. 940. Composed in January 1828, the work was premiered by Schubert and his friend, composer Franz Lachner, on May 9 of the same year at one the year's few Schuebrtiads. The work is in four continuous sections unified by the opening theme's melancholy tone of endless tragedy. It opens in the tonic with the sad, simple, and soulful tune Allegro molto moderato. This is followed by a stormy Largo in F sharp minor of tremendous pathos and power, then an Allegro vivace Scherzo also in F sharp minor. The tonic returns for the final section, a massive double fugue with a new subject set against the opening tune as a second subject. After an enormous polyphonic climax and a brief pause, the sad, simple, and soulful tune returns one last time, battered and beaten, but still singing its elegiac song.


Another Schubert favorite, this is perhaps my favorite compositions for piano duet. DDD ranked it first in greatest duets.. 

I have a soft spot for this recording:










Listen:











*What do you think of this piece? * Any favorite recordings?


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## elgar's ghost

I'm a staunch fan of Schubert's four-hand piano works - other favourites of mine include the Grand Duo sonata, the Grande Marche funebre the Divertissement a la hongroise and the Divertissement a la francaise. Even the lighter marches and dances (some written for his pupils) seemed to transcend their slender proportions.

As for the Fantasie, I have two recordings - a live one from Aldeburgh featuring Britten and Richter and a studio one with Eschenbach and Frantz but I don't prefer one over the other.


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## PetrB

This is a quietly monumental work, quintessential Schubert, iconic at least in my imagination.

I recommend too, the performances by Sviatoslav Richter and Benjamin Britten (!) 
(Playlist...)





and Emil and Elena Gilels (ahem.)


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## peeyaj

@PetrB

I am not really enamored with Britten and Richter's recording. The sound is muddled and I there is no indication who is the primero and segundo..


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## kv466

This has actually been one of my favorite Schubert works since I was a kid simply because it was on this disc. That answers the question of what my favorite recording is although I haven't exactly gone crazy comparing; I find this one to be just right. Why I don't love much of their stuff separately, Radu and Murray sure play great _together_.


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## PetrB

peeyaj said:


> @PetrB
> 
> I am not really enamored with Britten and Richter's recording. The sound is muddled and I there is no indication who is the primero and segundo..


Those who are younger and who cannot get past older technology are doomed to lose out on some terrific performances. If you cannot hear the difference between Richter and Britten, primo e segundo, it means they were equally good pianists who did their job, and it should not, at all, matter who played what (though segundo controls the pedal, so is really the 'prime' position; one can easily imagine that Britten deferred to Richter, and Richter took the segundo part.)


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## peeyaj

PetrB said:


> Those who are younger and who cannot get past older technology are doomed to lose out on some terrific performances. If you cannot hear the difference between Richter and Britten, primo e segundo, it means they were equally good pianists who did their job, and it should not, at all, matter who played what (though segundo controls the pedal, so is really the 'prime' position; one can easily imagine that Britten deferred to Richter, and Richter took the segundo part.)


Is this the same performance you mentioned?












> http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Piano-Britten-Aldeburgh-Festival/dp/B00004T2FW


I agree with the Amazon reviewer:



> The Richter-Britten recording, however, is not in the top tier. Sometimes live performances are more stirring than studio recordings. That is not so here. The tempi are consistently rapid and the playing sounds rushed in places. It is almost as though, in a piece as long as the F minor Fantasy, Richter and Britten were concerned about the audience's attention span. As a technical matter, too, there are a few rough edges. Richter and Britten are not always perfectly together, and the voices are blurred in places, especially in the fugato of the final section. The sound is a bit ragged as well. Besides a few skips and pops, the bass is often weak in relation to the treble. If Amazon.com accepted half-stars I would give this recording 3 and 1/2.
> 
> Elsewhere on Amazon.com I have reviewed the Lupu-Perahia recording of the F minor Fantasy, which towers over Richter-Britten in all respects. Although Lupu-Perahia's tempi are slower than Richter-Britten's, their playing is more propulsive. It has the combination of elasticity and forward motion that jazz afficionados will recognize as "swing." Combine Lupu-Perahia's rhythmic assurance with their supple phrasing and dynamic range, and you have a performance of haunting beauty and depth.


I've read the comments in the Youtube video and Richter was criticized for having too fast tempi.


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## Larkenfield

Terrific performance of a brilliant work by Schubert (and no, at his best he's not an overrated composer). Notice too his use of counterpoint toward the end (at the 15' mark) in a work full of charm, inspiration, and melodic genius:


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