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Evolution of Fantasies in Guitar Music

This program features fantasies for classical guitar spanning several centuries. It begins with Renaissance fantasies by Dowland that incorporated new techniques like tremolo. Sor's Fantaisie Élégiaque from the Classical era was a tragic piece in multiple sections. Tarrega's Fantasia on Themes from Verdi's La Traviata from the Romantic era arranged melodies from opera in distinct sections. The 20th century pieces by Rodrigo, Brouwer and Assad revert to a freer, improvisatory style. Brok's Toccata directly quotes from Brouwer's earlier work, demonstrating the influence of composers on each other over time. The program shows the evolution of the fantasy form from transcriptions

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10 views2 pages

Evolution of Fantasies in Guitar Music

This program features fantasies for classical guitar spanning several centuries. It begins with Renaissance fantasies by Dowland that incorporated new techniques like tremolo. Sor's Fantaisie Élégiaque from the Classical era was a tragic piece in multiple sections. Tarrega's Fantasia on Themes from Verdi's La Traviata from the Romantic era arranged melodies from opera in distinct sections. The 20th century pieces by Rodrigo, Brouwer and Assad revert to a freer, improvisatory style. Brok's Toccata directly quotes from Brouwer's earlier work, demonstrating the influence of composers on each other over time. The program shows the evolution of the fantasy form from transcriptions

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dsteinhardt1
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Fantasia Program

Fantasia 7 J. Dowland
Fancy p73 (1562-1626)

Fantaisie Élégiaque F. Sor


(1778-1839)

Fantasia on Themes from Verdi's La Traviata F. Tarrega


(1852-1909)
Intermission
Dos Pequenas Fantasias J. Rodrigo
Ecos De Sefarad (1901-1999)
Que Buen Caminito

Guitar Sonata L. Brouwer


Mov 3 Toccata de Pasquini (1939-)

Sandy’s Portrait S. Assad


Mov 3 Toccata (1952-)

Toccata Aaron Brok


(1975-2006)
Fantasies Through the Centuries

A fantasie/fantasia is a musical composition with signified freedom (an absence of structure),


often in an improvisatory style. Throughout the centuries, fantasies have evolved from
substitutes of song transcriptions to free form, contemporary toccatas. They have remained
prevalent throughout time in the classical guitar literature, allowing composers to creatively
write with no boundaries.

In 16th century lute music, a large portion of the solo repertoire comprised of intabulations,
which were transcriptions of popular songs. Fantasias on the other hand made composers write
solo compositions, with melodic and harmonic elements written specifically for the lute,
allowing the instrument to truly flourish. John Dowland, the beloved composer of the
Elizabethan era, wrote 90 pieces for the lute with his fantasies being pivotal works. His Fancy,
p73 was a revolutionary piece incorporating tremolo: one of the earliest examples of this
technique.

Moving to the classical period, Sor incorporated fantasies often in his works. Fantaisie Élégiaque
was dedicated to Madame Beslay, who died in childbirth. Beslay was a student of Sor, and it has
been rumored that the baby’s father was Fernando himself. Regardless of what actually
happened, this lengthy work is a tragic piece that was not written to show off technical
virtuosity, unlike other fantasies. While the intro does have an improvisatory nature, the piece
is well constructed in different sections, never loosing the attention of the audience.

Moving to the Romantic era, fantasies saw a great change when compared to their original
purpose: they used melodies from operatic songs! Tarrega’s Fantasia on Themes from Verdi's
La Traviata is a perfect example of this development. This piece moves away from an
improvisatory style, comprising of 5 sections, each of which explore a different aesthetic of the
guitar.

Following the intermission, we move to fantasies of the 20 th century. This style of music reverts
back to a (very) improvisatory nature, often being described as free form. Due to this
contemporary approach, often employing atonality, this repertoire is a bit harder to persuade
the general audiences, but contains a passionate and innovative approach of musical writing.

Throughout the second half of the program, you will truly hear the influence and inspiration
each composer gave to one and another, incorporating similar melodic and rhythmic
techniques. Aron Brok’s Toccata has even been nicknamed, A Leo Brouwer, comprising of direct
quotes from Brouwer’s infamous Toccata de Pasquini. It will be interesting to see how a
program like this will look in the next century, how fantasies will continue to evolve. Perhaps
they will return to a more contained, less improvisatory style, or they may continue to become
freer and freer, giving an outlet of true experimentation for composers. Time will only tell.

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