Mozart Fantasia in D Minor: A Closer Look & Analysis

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Happy practicing!
-Allysia

[@lesturner9849]

I just finished learning this piece last week...such a joy to play.

[@lesturner9849]

@@kcboy_007 Omg thanks. I've learned a bit more since. I should revisit this fun piece!

[@Tchaikfan]

It would be cool if you could show the sheet music while you show an example of the piece.

[@ConstanzeWeber]

Absolutely agree! It's rather frustrating not to see it actually.

[@juandaviolin]

It is a piece...

[@ceciliamushroom4332]

agree

[@lizzybach4254]

It's a piece.

[@Tchaikfan]

@@lizzybach4254 yes I am aware, apologies

[@DZPianoMusic]

my all time favorite piece by Mozart ... my students through the years have loved it

[@wuwv-m8h]

you prononucation of allegro, adagio, and all the other italian words is terrific

[@EnrickFall]

I LOVE this kind of videos, I can watch 100 videos of these analysis and not get tired of it. Amazing!!!

[@linamarea2000]

I really love your videos! Please continue doing this amazing work

[@FishingtonBurpPuzzle]

Learned it as a kid but wasn't into the gloom. Always felt there was something fatuous about the ending. Wonderful of you to eventually explain why.

[@francescogigliojr18]

I really appreciated your analysis of this piece. Thank you!

[@Ian-ky5hf]

I love Mozart’s music 🎶

[@RenardeauGuy]

Great video and nice presentation

[@dcunited710]

I love this piece and learned it very recently. I also like his fantasia in C minor. But I have heard many pianists (including Mitsuko Uchida) end it in the same way it began (the andante section)!

[@jasonstapley6822]

I love Mozart Fantasia in D Minor. Thanks so much for the breakdown of the piece. I will listen to it with a new understanding :)

[@pancitpals954]

I love this piece so much I played it for my recital this year!

[@nepheloccocygia]

Recent sub here and loving these analysis videos. It brings to my attention things I would have otherwise ignored completely. I've got a lot of binge watching/listening to do! Great stuff!

[@matthewpo2041]

Hi Allysia, can you do an analysis of Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor (Op. 72 No. 1)? It's my favorite of Chopin's nocturnes and I'd be interested to see you break it down. Keep up the great work!

[@cloudylove1589]

Thank you ❤️😊

[@EffectiveLifestyleRD]

Awesome. Very much enjoyed this.

[@josephben-sheetrit5020]

Dear Allysia, I was deeply captivated by your video. The only thing that was missing was an analysis - not a musical one, but an artistic one. Why is this piece so different than his other works? Is it "sad" or "mysterious" to you? What is this Fatntasia trying to "say", in your opinion? What kind of imagery or phenomena it brings to mind? Etc. In any case, you've got a new fan ;) keep up the good work. Thank you

[@doogelyjim8627]

great video and great insights :D

[@YassinMahhou]

Really good video , it helped me understand the piece alot better

[@rossnaheedy3400]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I usually don't appreciate Mozart because of what you hinted on at the beginning of your video, too few pieces written in minor, and of course agree with what you said about cherishing the pieces he DID write in minor, like the requiem you noted, his two symphonies, his two piano concertos, and a small quantity of various other pieces. One area he did NOT have a problem with writing pieces in minor are his arias. There are plenty of those to be found. I would've been completely happy with this piece ending right before the allegretto. Up to that point, it feels like Mozart didn't even write this piece.

[@dracorex6876]

The Fantasia in D minor is one of my favourite Mozart compositions to play through, and my mother used to play it a lot back when I was young. Interesting how you mention Mozart's preferred tragic key, because although he composed a handful of pieces in D minor, according to sources, his actual preferred tragic key happens to be G minor, and some examples of that include his two symphonies, his 25th and 40th, the Andante movement from his 18th Piano Concerto, and even from the Requiem, "Rex tremendae" and "Domine Jesu Christe," and on the topic of unfinished compositions, there was an Allegro in Sonata form in the key of G minor, K 312, in which Mozart composed most of until near the end of the development section, while the finishing part and the recapitulation was completed by an anonymous composer. So, in a way, the key of G minor is to Mozart what the key of C minor is to Beethoven, who also had his share of D minor works like the Tempest Sonata and his 9th Symphony, though he composed much more minor key compositions than Mozart.

[@larikipe940]

This works quite well on the organ, as well, provided you register it properly.

[@davidschestenger3366]

Love your comment, but if you don’t mind want to mention at the beginning you say about the easiness of the piece is a student piece Not sure about it, the first section the arpeggios for about a minute to go to next section is heartbreaking, every note of those arpeggios has a meaning And to understand this is what’s make music, I definitely LOVE this piece and Radu Lupu, happen to be my favorite I study classical guitar, and music is doing my day, and to get the “wright “ sound, the wright tempo, and wherever is doing the piece is being studied is quite difficult and a beautiful ride Thank you for sharing beauty Love your explanation

[@johnbender9597]

I dont know jack about music theory.. I just love music especially classical. But i enjoy any tidbits that i can get. Thanks for helping

[@davidallsopp4030]

This is an excellent video! Thank you!

[@ΔανάηΔάμπα]

Thank you for posting this ! I loove your analysis videos and this piece is one of my favourites . I was wondering if you would be willing to make a video explaining the circle of fifths for us beginners. I understand it's a very useful songwriting tool and all the websites I've visited don't explain it very well. Thanks anyway , looking forward to upcoming videos! 😊

[@julian65886]

Loved your explanations!

[@JosiahofSilverton]

Literally learned this last month! Crazy timing.

[@albemoro6566]

I love this sonata, is the only piece I can play of mozart and I play it often

[@ivanpeniche5472]

Thanks for this insightful video, i'm new to your channel but i'm loving it

[@helostcontroll]

i just started to learn this piece and i had no idea the ending wasn't his lmao.

[@ksrucin]

Solid research and presentation. Bravo!

[@ammystery1]

Hey do you want do an analysis on Beethovens Appassionata? Especially the first Movement😇

[@jasmineendemann4471]

I love Appassionata!!!

[@alger3041]

With the Appassionata there is no textual controversy.

[@samuelrappaport6162]

I have PTSD from that peice the third movent killed my left hand. one of the greatest challenges I have faced in my playing. However it has so much energy it is incredible.

[@alecmisra4964]

Yes she does.

[@victorfalcone2129]

Great video & great concept 👍 you are the youtuber that I was waiting for so long 👏

[@dwaynehawkins]

well done video. thanks

[@galacticmess7050]

I feel like I have to kind of adress this: Mozart didn't save his minor keys compositions to a very select few just because he wanted to. Sure he probably did devoted a lot of passion, love and imagination to them, but he and his other fellow composers from the same time were almost forced to write in happy and easy-to-play major keys. Of course you can find compositions from that period that are dark, very complex and hard to play (example from Mozart himself: the aria "Queen of the night"), but composers in the Classicism period are still kind of servents to a court, and the music culture at that time demanded happy and structure-simple music. That's why minor keys weren't so welcome, the most notable example being the symphony no. 45 by Haydn, written not only in a minor key, but also in one very hard to play, specially for the string instruments, whose pieces were mostly based in keys that matched the first three open strings, so it would be easier to play; the symphony no.45 is in F# minor, a bit challenging for the time.

[@VTXBlindManGT]

Totally entertaining to watch! Love your videos :) (From New Zealand) :)

[@herrvonunknowngut7141]

Good explanation. Thank you.

[@8bitcarrot]

That's good. I started learning this like a week ago.

[@seanmortazyt]

highly entertaining and educational!

[@김시인-m6l]

Your video always perfect keep going

[@desteddyeggroll]

I’m playing this for my Senior Recital!!!

[@Alix777.]

Very interesting video, thanks a lot.

[@user-kt7mi3yy8j]

These are awesome, thanks for putting them together. Any chance you might consider doing segments on modern composers? Are there any you are following?

[@joshuaknox7425]

Ryan S t

[@alexprabaharan3463]

Hi there! A new fan ('bout 2-3 weeks old I guess :-) ). Interesting piece.Will definitely check it out soon. Never played any dark Mozart piece before.

[@xavolzm]

Can you make a video about microtonal music? I think it's very interesting

[@charles-valentinalkan5681]

I played it! 👌

[@alger3041]

Did you play it with those controversial last eight bars? I would hope that you did.

[@XXmatt18XX]

good shit, mozart got all the juice

[@sdka9922]

The date of composition of this piece is no known since the autograph is lost and first publication is in 1804 after his death. The 1782 date is just an assumption based on stylistic considerations but without any certainty. Interestingly that after showing the Henle cover, you are in fact using the Breitkopf&Hartel version. Only issue with this version is that it is not the Urtext version and contains some editiorializing, added slurs which do no exist in the original first publication (in particular the large slur over mesure 9 and 10 - your recording playing them indeed partially non legato). The slur between the first low note (D or C) of the first 6 measures does not exist in the 1804 version. It is an interpretation of subsequent editors and are not in the NMA official version. Of course it is difficult to know whether that is an error of the original editor or if Mozart himself forgot or did not bother to mention it (like in many other known cases). Indeed we know from other works that the working drafts of Mozart did not include all the articulation details vs the final versions. The reason why though it is quite possible that he did intend the repeat of the low D or C is that the decay time of mozart piano was much faster and overall volume of bass notes much more limited. It is therefore possible that he did intend to repeat the low bass to ensure it was audible throughout the entire bar. After bar 6, the low note is not repeated ad it covers only half bar. On modern piano with the increased resonance and volume, it is not necessary to repeat the low note and it is indeed how all players interpret it. Though the level of this piece is RCM 9 and Henle 5/6, it is in fact extremely difficult to get right because of the balance of damping (mix of half pedal, tenuto / finger pedaling, ...) as this piece was not intended to be played on large modern piano. The delicate phrasing and slow pace implies an excellent control of the keys, otherwise we get just a fuz of confusing notes. So if technically maybe playable by intermediate level pianist, it really requires very experienced players to get about right.

[@yvonne9881]

Tx very much for this analysis. Would you do one on K279 first mov too?

[@matthewcobain7278]

I've always felt like the Allegretto is very reminiscent of 'The Magic Flute'... particularly themes pertaining to Papageno, Pamina and Tamino...

[@yosefg1989]

In love

[@arghapirate2427]

Wauw! Finally more Mozart! i LOVE YOU. The D moll fantasia is my favorite Amadeus piece!

[@mp-dd7pn]

It would have been better to use a score with the "original" time indication for the Andante, which is ALLA BREVE ! A detailed analysis would also reveal that the Andante is not "only" an introduction but contains the entire basic structure of the piece. Moreover the 2nd theme does not start in bar 20 (which is an answer the the previous melody line ... and a modulation), but in bar 23! Only here we have the new key a-minor!

[@Libercapitum]

♥EN EL 11.32/18:25 sobra una nota , repetida demás... SOBRA UN TIEMPO y nadie lo mejora! ...rompe toda la armonía rítmica de la frase musical, ...lo tocan así en todo el mundo!...y a nadie le importa que puede ser un simple error de escritura...💔 ...tú podrías probarlo y mostrarlo , bella "piano TV"...🌹

[@passage2enBleu]

The Glenn Gould interpretation of Fantasia in Dminor is very interesting. Second presto Cadenza (from 12:13 here) has a speculating change of pace then a brief pause midway, as if looking back. Down the staircase, and almost mirrored on the way up. Subtle but powerful.

[@sulynlam3562]

Great job, thank you! But next time could you leave the relevant sheet music on the screen we’re listening to sections?

[@davidgerhardus3885]

besides the amazing quality of the videos, does ANYONE here realized how beautiful she is ?

[@underzog]

I think she is pretty.

[@samuelrappaport6162]

Keep it in your pants David

[@GeodesicBruh]

Yeah she’s pretty. Lmao I’ll never find a good looking piano playing girl

[@thatsEforEveryone]

She's pretty

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

You needed to point that out in order to emphasize that her value as a human is primarily in how well she pleases random male strangers, and she must absolutely never be allowed to forget that. Not complimentary. Not kind. Not thoughtful. Not respectful.

[@ancientbelmont4774]

Gould's version FTW!

[@whyme9534]

Can you make a video of Schuberts impromptu the 3rd movement please

[@TheMachtigen]

First of all You're gorgeous. second, could you do an analysis of Mozart's Requiem Lacrimosa? or Piano Concerto No.23 in A Major Adagio part? =]

[@alger3041]

Allysia - yes - the controversy of the ending, which is a sore topic for me. My understanding is that the last eight bars or so were not written by Mozart. The work was left incomplete and a sympathetic contemporary editor or whatever added on those bars to permit publication and performance. We must be eternally grateful for this. But there are many purists out there who take an attitude, Only What The Master Wrote, and will not accept this ending (even though in this opinion and I'm sure in many others, this ending works perfectly and should be left as is), and even in some editions, there are some comments that Mozart may have had something in mind along the lines of his Fantasy K.475/Sonata K. 457 in C Minor. Personally, I do not believe that the two situations are analogous in any manner and form. But there nevertheless some recordings of this work whereby, instead of the pianist offering those last bars, he/she returns to the beginning of the work and finds some way to end that introduction as it began. One version I've heard even ends on a half cadence, an A Major dominant chord, which is totally unacceptable for me. The very genus of this work, from dark eventually to liberation and brightness is what I feel this piece is about, and in no way can I accept all these misbegotten editorial conceptions which I feel should be laid to rest once and for all. Does anyone realize that the latter two movements of the Sonata in C Major, K. 330 were also left incomplete by Mozart and were completed in the same manner by a contemporary to permit publication and performance? Would you or anyone imagine that I would be delighted to discover this bit of information? Hardly so, any more than in this situation. But would that mean that the sonata would be similarly subject to this sort of editorial tampering? We all know that the Requiem, his final work, was left incomplete. Should we remain the Purist and in performance simply chop it off at the point where he laid down his pen because from that point it is not by him? Allysia, I did not yet have a chance to listen to your video so I do not yet know what your own views are, but I had to get this off my chest in the hopes that those reading this will take stock of this situation, and what is happening to music in general in the interest of "Authenticity."

[@Varooooooom]

alger3041 - Amazing comment. Would you mind leaving some links to performances that don’t follow the now-widely-played ending?

[@alger3041]

The best I can suggest is for you to listen to Mitsuko Uchida's rendition of this piece. For me, however, no matter how beautifully she may play this piece, the very fact that she diverges from the accepted text, no matter her viewpoints, would for me immediately and absolutely rule it out of court.

[@lucapineyro142]

make one analysis of mephisto waltz =D

[@comic4relief]

Nobody knows what Mozart would have written or how many bars it would have been. Müller's ending is quite nice, but it does sort of force an ending in a few bars, whereas Wölfie's is apt to have been a bit longer and more complex. It is a phantasy, so maybe he left it undone on purpose. Maybe he wrote an ending and it got lost,.. With every answer come more questions!

[@akemdam9824]

Grear video ,u should show the sheet while the songs are playing though

[@newyearsconcerto2678]

Did somebody think of just adding a Fugue after the Mozart ending? e.g. Wohltemperiertes Klavier II, D major. The whole fantasia would be then just a big introduction to a great Bach fugue.

[@engelbertschoormans]

15:20 the 2 forte chords sounds like the interpret had to choose to make a cadenza. Maybe to finish the piece on his own?

[@KerimWirthSuperLps]

@@Noah-wv4td Wrong. In Mozart's music improvisation actually is an incredibly important aspect and it belongs to one's good taste.

[@anonymusum]

The whole piece shows that Mozart had a much bigger dimension in mind and I guess that final chord in A wasn´t meant as an open door for a following fugue. Which means that this Fantasy was probably meant to be way longer. Perhaps he would have returned to the minor atmosphere from the beginning. Who knows? So this 10 bar ending is way too short and by the way nearly a direct repetition - and that´s something Mozart wouldn´t have done anyway. In his reprises there are always variations involved. If I would play it I would write my own ending as this is not satisfying at all.

[@DressedForDrowning]

Don't be ill-informed: Mozart knew exactly what to do with this piece and with the ending.

[@yesbabyyes3627]

Make a piano posture video please

[@Lordran__]

Could you do Liszt's 'Un sospiro' etude?

[@joshuagromann534]

Hi i have a for me rly important question: do you think i can study piano when i start playing with the age of 14 (now i m 16) and i have ca.5 more years for train my techniques and feeling for the instrument ? Sry for my bad english xD With what age do you start playing ?

[@joshuagromann534]

And btw pls more videos like the train video of Schuberts momento musicoux that was rly helpfully

[@392023001]

Never too late to start... As long as you enjoy it and practice, you'd be surprised how much improvement you can achieve

[@xavolzm]

12. now i am 20 yo

[@thatguyfromthere1168]

Du bist offensichtlich Deutscher

[@PianistStefanBoetel]

Everybody has it's on specialty in their piano playing. If you started late, maybe you won't be the big virtuoso but you will specialize in chamber music and accompaniment. Build up that what's your personal strenghts. It'sl not important to be like everyone else rather than have a distinct own profile. Go for your dreams.

[@JermaineOneal1]

Please leave the score on the screen when you play the recordings.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

How about a closer look on Beethoven's Variations op.35?

[@jasmineendemann4471]

I have a question, but it's nothing to do with this video. How long should it averagely take to get up to grade 4 piano? I'm in grade 4 and I've been learning for 10 months? Just curious! Thanks!

[@sdka9922]

So what would be the point ? There are kids at 8 years old playing already above Grade 10 !

[@thatguymork]

What ever you're comfortable with, really. Like another commenter said, very young children are playing very technically challenging pieces. You can too, if you dedicate the time, experience, and criticism to the task. It's up to you.

[@MaggaraMarine]

I do think the ending is a bit abrupt - not very satisfying. I guess it's because the beginning of the piece is so serious and now it ends happily in major. I feel like there's still some tension left that needs resolving - now it sounds like there's a sad/deep story but suddenly it just ends with "and then they lived happily ever after". It just doesn't sound believable IMO. I guess people didn't dare to criticize the ending before it was found that it's probably not Mozart's ending, because they didn't want to question Mozart's decisions (because doing that would make you sound pretty arrogant - I mean, who are you to tell what Mozart should have done). But when they found out it was written by someone else, it was much easier to say "yeah, I always felt like there's something wrong with that ending". Then again, ending a piece like this is pretty much impossible with just 10 bars - you would have to write a lot more than that to make the ending feel satisfying, and I'm not sure if that's really a good idea either, because it would probably change the piece too much.

[@sanchopansa1950]

you comments give us some clues. however, a little more of the nitty-gritty would not really harm.

[@sophiadao7325]

What "nitty-gritty"?

[@sanchopansa1950]

@@sophiadao7325 nitty-gritty means details

[@kareemismail3744]

I wonder to what extent this piece was inspired by Bach's Chromatic Fantasy. I sense many similarities..

[@liriking11]

Great video! Very informative and fitting to all levels. But I think it’s unfair to say that composers didn’t end pieces on a dominant chord - because the half cadence is very common. Perhaps it’s better to explain that Mozart’s ending has a dominant seventh chord with very clear inflection of continuation. I also find the ending very ill informed. This piece, up until the 97th measure follows an incredibly common form, or about 2/3rds of it. Look no further than Mozart’s famous A minor piano sonata for an example: the third movement, in A minor (with the exception of the interluded cadenzas) is written the same way - including the shift to major - which also has two short sections that in turn end on dominant, then tonic. But instead of ending on the major section, he goes back - like you should - to the original key, revisiting expositional themes and concluding with a C section and short coda. That’s how this piece should end, and is likely how Mozart would have finished it.

[@zeynepy]

well said

[@stelun56]

posthumous (päsCHəməs)

[@kenswireart88]

I personally think many composers wrote this piece because all the different sections although cool didn't seem like the fit the prior section.

[@FrostDirt]

That's what you call a fantasy.

[@Michael-uk3pj]

Your definition of "doable" is slightly different to mine...

[@qf1150]

There is no feeling of hanging or suspense at the end of the intro. There are plenty of modulations leading, eventually, to the key of A major, which is well established by sounding the arpeggio of the tonic chord. The long A at the end has a definite feeling of finality, since it is not the dominant of the initial key of D minor, but the tonic of the final key of A major.

[@leo17921]

6:31 good luck reading this note yeah i was able to read that in like .3 seconds

[@enanotodo]

you are so beautiful!

[@HowieCarson]

In D minor, which I find is the saddest of all keys

[@erixlloliver-darkmusic]

I hate the last part of this Fantasia! I only play the original part, compose by Mozart.

[@beakt]

Cutie!

[@benancona3242]

I wonder if that actually was the desired ending. The piece has many moments of "longing" and "unfinished" cut offs. I wonder if Mozart was playing kind of a joke with the end.

[@underzog]

My ex music teacher asked me to learn this before she stopped speaking to me for voting for Pres. Trump :(

[@GeodesicBruh]

Haha it’s pronounced “fan-ta-cea”

[@windmillwilly]

Prove it

[@emailemail5133]

i started playing with a real piano when i was 9 years old,meh i wanted to start from 8.

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

Just so you know for the future, "posthumous" is pronounced (approximately) "POSS-tchew-muss", with "poss" as in "possible". I have no idea why this is; English is capricious and unpredictable.

[@Dovith]

Not a deep analysis.

[@slwankaedbey775]

Hi, your beautiful eyes are really distracting... anyway, could u do an analysis about Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, espicially about the weird ending, I don't get it

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

The funny thing about Mozart's music is that it looks easy enough, and with a few years of lessons under your belt you can actually play it. WRONG! Mozart's music must be played absolutely perfectly otherwise you miss the whole point. You need hands of steel to pull off the delicate stuff otherwise you sound like a fool. Leave this to the professionals.

[@tienusheukelman6135]

the music of today lioe rap and that rubish is full of swearing and bad words... those geniuses like mozart and beethoven is not born any more... they came one on another... mozart, beethoven, chopin, bach, brahms, Tchaikovsky, lizt, straus, wagner etc... all musical geniuses... one of them had more brains than all this swearing and rapping idiots... it take no brain to to put swearing words in a noisy rap tune yet only a genius can compose and do what they did. all of their music was different... some loud, some quiet, some sad... for example, a polonaise from mozart will sound way different than one from chopin. a serenade from schubert might be slow and sad where one from mozart might sound funny and some very fast parts... in this rap rubish and all this crap the ppl listen to today is the same... the base that the ppl think sounds cool but actually just a noise... nothing beautiful in that same base, same note over and over... no tune to listen to... you cant even hear what the guy is trying to say... if all listen classical music, love will become more and greater... less violence will take place... show me a criminal that listen classical music... think about it... yet everybody will think it is great if u play piano or play the Beethoven 9 symphonys... or will cry if u play the 'ode to joy' part of his 9th symphony... or it will bring tears to a mans eyes if u play a piano concert of mozart... music can make u feel sad or happy... rap makes u whant to do something bad or have sex with the closest woman u can get (only with mental sick ppl)... it happens... why is there so many accidents on the road? the dumb driver dont think because he cant think in the loud noisy music... ppl of today is way to dumb to understand the love of classical music... this rubish of today poisoned their minds...

[@Lordran__]

Tienus Heukelman I agree 100%

[@HilbertXVI]

Tienus Heukelman Autism detected

[@amedeelefroiddemereaux2865]

Im a lover of classical too but first of all there's also some good modern music and not all the rap is bad.

[@MaggaraMarine]

_"show me a criminal that listen classical music"_ Pretty sure Hitler liked Wagner... _"the music of today lioe rap and that rubish is full of swearing and bad words"_ Did you know that Mozart composed a piece called "Leck Mich Im Arsch" which means "lick my ass"?

[@EcstasyJesus]

I must admit that I love Friedrich Gulda's tempo the best, even though it's faster than the norm. That might be because of the alla breve, what do you think Allysia? I think his tempo makes the piece flow so much better without losing the overall feeling of sadness, deperation and agitation.