Fantasia in F minor (Schubert)

A dedication to his former pupil Caroline Esterházy can only be found in the posthumous first edition, not in Schubert's autograph.

[1][2] Musicologist Christopher Gibbs has described the work as "among not only his greatest but his most original" compositions for piano duet.

The basic idea of a fantasia with four connected movements also appears in Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, and represents a stylistic bridge between the traditional sonata form and the essentially free-form tone poem.

[9] The piece opens with a lyrical melody with dotted rhythms that is reminiscent of the Hungarian style.

While marked largo, the frequently double-dotted first theme lends a great deal of tension to this movement.

[11] Schubert had recently heard Paganini's second violin concerto, whose second movement inspired the themes here.

[12] In 1961, Russian composer Dimitri Kabalevsky orchestrated the work, producing a virtuoso piece for one piano soloist playing with a symphony orchestra.