Fantasy in C major

Linked preludes with room to breathe

This keyboard fantasy grows through linked sections rather than following a single unchanging pattern. The Henle preface connects it with Nannerl’s request for preludes and explains how its excursions lead away from C major and back again. On the page, measured gestures meet freer cascades of notes, while changes of tempo and character separate the stages of the journey.

At the keyboard

Before trying to make the runs fluent, play their harmonic landing points and listen to the route between them. Give the written contrasts their own character without losing the sense of connection. In the freer passages, try shaping a whole rise or fall instead of stressing every note equally. Then practise each transition so that a new section feels like a continuation, not an accidental stop.

Music in this edition

1. Fantasy in C major