Fantasy on a Theme of Schubert

Audio Samples

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Program Notes

What attracted me to "Die liebe Farbe" (The Beloved Colour) from the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Miller Girl) is its haunting melody and the simplicity of its stark contrapuntal lines. I was also intrigued by the F-sharp pedal that pulses without let-up for the song's entire duration. The song's text, on the other hand, was of little consequence to me in this context. The Fantasy opens with the theme, in its original key, high up in eerie violin harmonics, shadowed in loose canon by the piano. The first episode gradually departs from the theme, initiating a process over the course of which the theme is further distorted at each recurrence—intervalically, rhythmically and especially harmonically—culminating in a lyrical outpouring, underscored by a G-pedal, with splashy diatonic cluster chords in the piano. But a sombre mood returns and the music drifts off into the stratosphere of register.

Performances

• Mar 31, 2009—Lynn Kuo, Marianna Humetska
  COC Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Toronto
• Nov 22, 2008—Alain Bouvier, Michael Esch
  Robert Rival Doctoral Recital, U of T
• Aug 5, 2008—Donnie Deacon, Frédéric Lacroix
  Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival

Reviews

Score Perusal & Parts Rental

For score perusal and parts rental information, contact Robert Rival.