Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu (Polish: Fantazja-Impromptu) in C♯ minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a piece for piano played alone. It was written in 1834 and published after his death in 1855, even though Chopin had said that his unpublished works should not be published. The Fantaisie-Impromptu is one of Chopin's most often performed and popular compositions.
History
The Fantaisie-Impromptu was written in 1834, along with the Four Mazurkas (Op. 17) and the Grande valse brillante in E♭ major (Op. 18). However, Chopin did not publish the Fantaisie-Impromptu during his lifetime. Instead, Julian Fontana published it after Chopin’s death, along with the waltzes Opp. 69 and 70. It is unknown why Chopin did not release the Fantaisie-Impromptu. James Huneker described parts of the piece as "mawkish" and "without nobility." Ernst Oster studied the music and found similarities between the Fantaisie-Impromptu and Ludwig van Beethoven’s "Moonlight" Sonata (Quasi una fantasia), which he suggested may have influenced Chopin’s decision not to publish the work. The Fantaisie-Impromptu also resembles the Impromptu in E♭ major, Op. 89, by Ignaz Moscheles, which was published in 1834, the same year Chopin wrote the Fantaisie-Impromptu.
In 1960, pianist Arthur Rubinstein discovered the "Album of the Baroness d'Este," which had been sold at an auction in Paris. The album included a manuscript of the Fantaisie-Impromptu written in Chopin’s own handwriting, dated 1835. The title page stated, in French, "Composed for the Baroness d'Este by Frédéric Chopin." French authorities confirmed the manuscript’s authenticity. Compared to the previously published version, this manuscript showed "a delicate care for detail" and "many improvements in harmony and style." Rubinstein believed this proved the work was complete. In his preface to the "Rubinstein Edition," published by G. Schirmer, Inc. in 1962, Rubinstein suggested that the phrase "Composed for" instead of a dedication indicated Chopin had received payment for the piece, meaning he had sold it to the Baroness.
Form
Oster notes that the Fantaisie-Impromptu uses many musical elements from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which is also in C♯ minor, especially the third movement. Two measures after the melody begins, a sudden run includes the same notes as the cadenza in the sonata's third movement (Presto agitato), but one octave higher. Both pieces share a similar climax on a 4 chord. Additionally, the Fantaisie-Impromptu's middle section and the second movement of the Moonlight Sonata are in D♭ major. The first and third movements of both pieces are in C♯ minor.
Oster explains that Chopin understood Beethoven in a way no other writer has, stating, "The Fantaisie-Impromptu is perhaps the only instance where one genius reveals what he hears in the work of another genius through his own composition."
The piece includes cross-rhythms, where the right hand plays sixteenth notes while the left hand plays triplets, and features continuously moving note patterns. It is written in cut time (2/2). The opening tempo is marked allegro agitato. When the key changes to D♭ major (the enharmonic equivalent of C♯ major, the parallel major of C♯ minor), the tempo shifts to largo and later to moderato cantabile.
The piece then returns to presto (some versions include a coda, restarting the original allegro agitato tempo) and shifts back to C♯ minor. It ends with an ambiguous, fantasy-like section, where the left hand repeats the first notes of the moderato theme while the right hand continues playing sixteenth notes. The piece resolves gently on a rolled C♯ major chord (a Picardy third).
Legacy
The middle section of the Fantaisie-Impromptu was used in the popular Vaudeville song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." This theme is also included in Variation 10 of Federico Mompou's Variations on a Theme of Chopin, which is otherwise based on Chopin's Prelude No. 7 in A major. George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume 1: 11. Dream Images (Love-Death Music) (Gemini) includes three quotations from the Fantaisie-Impromptu's middle section.