It was composed between October 1889 and April 1890, but only received its first public performance in 1919, a year after Debussy's death.
The work is dedicated to the pianist René Chansarel, who had been scheduled to play the solo part for the cancelled premiere in 1890.
[2] This despite the title, a fantasia is traditionally in a single movement with several sections of vastly different character, and contains no "sonata form".
[3] Over the next few years the very self-critical Debussy made numerous revisions, but eventually gave up on the work and declared that the Fantaisie would never be published or performed during his lifetime.
[4] It received its first public performance posthumously on November 20, 1919,[1] in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Alfred Cortot as soloist.