" The F minor Fantaisie has hardly the
Mozartian serenity, but parades a formal beauty--not disfigured
by an excess of violence, either personal or patriotic, and its
melodies, if restless by melancholy, are of surprising nobility
and dramatic grandeur. Without including the Beethoven Sonatas,
not strictly born of the instrument, I do not fear to maintain
that this Fantaisie is one of the greatest of piano pieces. Never
properly appreciated by pianists, critics, or public, it is,
after more than a half century of neglect, being understood at
last. It was published November, 1843, and probably composed at
Nohant, as a letter of the composer indicates. The dedication is
to Princesse C. de Souzzo--these interminable countesses and
princesses of Chopin! For Niecks, who could not at first discern
its worth, it suggests a Titan in commotion. It is Titanic; the
torso of some Faust-like dream, it is Chopin's Faust. A macabre
march, containing some dangerous dissonances, gravely ushers us
to ascending staircases of triplets, only to precipitate us to
the very abysses of the piano.
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