Fantasia in C minor

Articulation that speaks

The Fantasia K. 475 rewards close attention to articulation, not only dramatic contrast. Henle’s critical notes distinguish paired slurs from staccato in one source at bar 17, and record portato in another passage. Such differences matter to the way a line speaks. They also caution against copying every detail from a recording based on a different edition.

At the keyboard

Choose a short passage and distinguish a connected pair from a detached note before adding pedal. Listen to the space between gestures as carefully as to their attack. Once the articulation is clear, restore the wider phrase and its changes of intensity. These are practice experiments, not a claim that one modern edition provides a single mandatory interpretation.

Music in this edition

1. Fantasia in C minor