Chopin's Fantasy, Op. 49

Fantasy Op. 49, composed in 1841, is one of Chopin’s longest works for solo piano, lasting over ten minutes. It has an improvisatory style. It is loosely structured with abundant melodic ideas. It begins with a slow, dark march-like theme. The motive is a descending scale of four notes. The piece also contains sudden changes in volume and key (e.g., C to Cb in the introduction and arpeggios that move upward to push the tempo forward). Since the piece’s formal structure is unconventional and preconceived in comparison to other works, such as sonatas, a wide variety of ideas are presented within it, which creates an impression of instability throughout.

hard stuff!