Fantasia in D Minor

The music of C.P.E. Bach, more structurally unpredictable and emotionally mercurial than that of his father, Johann Sebastian, was a major influence on composers of the late 18th century and on Mozart in particular. Mozart’s Fantasia in D minor, a single-movement work for keyboard lasting five minutes, undoubtedly draws on C.P.E. Bach’s example in the intensity of its minor-key atmosphere and multiple tempo switches. The Fantasia begins with a brooding introduction, subdued arpeggio figurations conveying the impression that the soloist may be improvising. The pace drops further as the right hand unravels a lamenting melody with anxiously pulsing chords beneath. Its progress is impeded by unsettled passages of staccato notes, halting pauses and three swirling mini cadenzas. Given what has gone before, the Fantasia’s sudden lurch to the major key in its concluding section comes as a jolting surprise, as though the music has been cut and pasted from another piece entirely. Up-tempo, and marked to be played “sweetly” and “lightly”, this effervescent conclusion undoubtedly boosts the spirits of the listener. It does little, though, to resolve the deeper, more introspective emotions laid bare by Mozart earlier in the Fantasia.