PROGRAM NOTES
The title Fantasy Pieces, unlike Fantasia, is often associated with fairly short, whimsical, probably charming, and in general “diminutive” pieces of music. One case in point is Schumann’s lovely Fantasy Pieces for cello and piano. In that sense, the title of my work may be slightly misleading, for it is composed of three fairly elaborate pieces of a rather massive character, the total effect of which is not unlike that of a sonata, but with none of the formal strictness.
The word “Fantasy” still seems appropriate, though, owing to the work’s ever-changing, strongly contrasting moods. These are found in the many long and short, rhythmically flexible passages interwoven throughout the work — be it the cello-solo cadenza at the very opening; or sections of the first and last movements where the cello and piano race madly, each on its own, only to meet at pre-designated points (a fairly contained, but to this composer useful employment of aleatory, or chance, technique); or the unexpected turns of events such as the baroque-like section in the last movement, quoting with mock-triumph a somewhat distorted Bach theme.
The work was written in 1971 for my dear friend British cellist Richard Markson and is dedicated to him. Richard’s one specific request at the time was that I compose for him “the most virtuoso cello work ever written”. While I may not have fully succeeded at that, there is no denying the challenges this music presents to its courageous interpreter!
The three movements carry these titles:
1) Forceful, passionate, with much rhythmic freedom
2) Slow
3) Mad!
—Shulamit Ran
INFORMATION
Written at the request
of cellist Richard Markson
and dedicated to him
Premiere: December 1971
Wigmore Hall, London
Richard Markson, cello
Lamar Crowson, piano
Duration: c. 22’
RECORDING
Recorded in 1993 in a transcription for Cello and Orchestra by Cliff Colnot as Three Fantasy Movements: Nina Flyer, cello, English Chamber Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta, conductor, on Koch International Classics 3-7269-2H1