Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fantasia
in D Minor, K. 397

ID: 1221

From darkness to light

This piece gives us an insight in Mozart's improvisational style, and reveals the darker sides of his personality. The somber introduction and the aria-like melody that follows belong to Mozart’s most despairing moments. The heavy, chromatically descending octaves of measures 20-22 seems to take us to the gloomiest regions of the human soul. After sections of nervously palpitating music, and dramatic outbursts covering the entire range of the keyboard, suddenly the mode changes to D major, giving to this piece a surprisingly joyful and relaxed ending.

The fantasy-character is underlined by the many silences, fermatas and mood changes. The pianist has to grasp all these different parts and make them into a convincing, coherent performance, as if reenacting Mozart's improvisation. The time signature in the D minor section is alla breve or cut time. In other words, the beat is counted in half-notes, so every bar has only two (slow) beats. The pianist that keeps this in mind will have an easier time shaping the music beautifully, especially the melody at the start of the Adagio section. There are many two-note slurs throughout the piece. Accents on the first note in these slurred pairs make them sound like expressive sighs.

Background

The Fantasy was only published after Mozart’s death, and the manuscript has been lost. In the first edition, the piece ended at the fermata in bar 97. Whether Mozart had intended to continue the Fantasy or attach it to a Sonata or Fugue remains unclear. In the Breitkopf & Härtel edition that appeared a few years later, ten concluding bars in D major, probably composed by the editor, appeared. This ending has been republished in practically every edition ever since, and are included in the vast majority of recordings of the piece.

Mitsuko Uchida was probably the first recording artist to provide an alternative ending, returning to D minor and the arpeggiated chords of the beginning. Hélène Grimaud stops at the fermata and uses the Fantasy as an introduction on her recording of the D minor Concerto K. 466.

Practice & Performance Tips:

Introduction
Think of the first note of this introduction (low D) as a seed that starts to germinate and take shape. It is interesting that Mozart writes the bass line (downbeats) with long notes. This is called "finger pedal" and makes the harmonies ring more without the performer having to use too much pedal.
Practice all the arpeggios by blocking the notes to form chords. Blocking chords will help with memorization and also with shaping. Try to hear the chord progression outlined here and strive to shape this introduction that ends on the dominant chord (an important chord that prepares the listener for the theme).

Adagio
Remember that the term Adagio means “at ease”. Try to feel this section in two (remember that the time signature is 2/2, cut-time).
Mozart loved hearing and writing operas. He was definitely thinking about an aria when he wrote this beautiful melodic line. Give a singing tone to your melody while your left hand holds the bass notes (the composer is using the finger pedal technique again!). Moreover, can you play the double notes in the left hand lightly? The soft touch here will provide just the right atmosphere in the background while the right hand will... Sign up for a Gold membership to read the practice tips.

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Mozart: Fantasia K. 397 in D Minor . DOWNLOAD piano sheet music from Piano Street digital sheet music library.
Fantasia in D Minor K. 397 by the composer Wolfgang Amadéus Mozart (1756-1791). This piece is from the Classical era and is part of Mozart's Miscellaneous pieces.