Frederic Chopin – Fantaisie Impromptu

Chopin's Impromptus have something of a reputation as "salon music," largely because the form itself seems to imply something improvised, transient, or insignificant. But when you play them like the greatest music in the world, it's hard not to believe that the music actually is the greatest in the world, or in any event so fine as to make no difference.

Chopin - Fantaisie Impromptu in C sharp minor Op.66

Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu is a technically difficult but also very fun piece to play, and it's easy to see why it's among Chopin's most famous and popular works. It is interesting to note that the middle section was used in the song I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, which was a very popular song in 1918.

Frederic Chopin

Chopin wrote four impromptus but affixed the word "fantaisie" (fantasy) only to the last one, perhaps implying a clearer form for the first three and a more rhapsodic nature for the last.

Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. 66, is a solo piano composition and it is a relatively short piece. It was composed in 1834.

Fantaisie-Impromptu, sheet

It is in ABA form. The A section has a sweeping melody of sixteenth notes running up and down the keyboard, accompanied by triplet arpeggios in the left hand. It's very fast and almost a little chaotic, while the softer middle section with its wonderful cantilena provides a good overall balance to the piece. The coda begins passionately, but calms down little by little, reintroducing the theme from the middle section in the left hand. The work ends peacefully.

Frederic Chopin by Delacroix

Chopin's manuscript carries the French inscription "Composed for the Baroness d'Este," which some people, notably pianist Artur Rubinstein, have interpreted to mean that the baroness commissioned the work for her exclusive use.

Frederic Chopin

Chopin asked that this work, along with several others, be destroyed after his death. Obviously his executors ignored him. The version that is heard most often was prepared from Chopin’s sketches by his friend Julian Fontana in 1855.

Julian Fontana