Fantasy Variations
Subtitle: On George Gershwin's Prelude II for Piano
General Info
Year: 1927 / 1999
Duration: c. 11:50
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Alfred Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $200.00 | Score Only - $50.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo (doubling Flute III)
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano (doubling Celesta)
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bells
- Crash Cymbals
- Hi-hat
- Marimba
- Slapstick
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Tom-toms (4)
- Trap Set
- Triangle (small)
- Vibraphone
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Donald Grantham wrote this of his Fantasy Variations on George Gershwin’s Prelude II for Piano:
My attraction to the work is personal because it was the first piece by an American composer I learned as a piano student. In Fantasy Variations, both of the “big tunes” in the piece are fully exploited, but they do not appear in recognizable form until near the end. The work begins with much more obscure fragments drawn from the introduction, accompanimental figures, transitions, cadences, and so forth. These eventually give way to more familiar motives derived from the themes themselves. All of these elements are gradually assembled over the last half of the piece until the themes finally appear in more or less their original form.
Brian Taylor (DMA, University of Southern Mississippi) provided the following backstory for the source material in his 2008 dissertation: “Gershwin spoke of composing a set of twenty-four etudes for piano, having been inspired by Chopin’s set of preludes, exploring all major and minor keys; the set was to be named The Melting Pot. In 1927, only three preludes, all dedicated to William Daly, were published.” The three piano preludes were the composer’s only work for solo piano, and the second prelude specifically has proven immensely popular fodder for transcription. Gershwin himself referred to it as "a sort of blues lullaby." An intriguing additional thread: according to biographer Howard Pollack, one of the never-fully-realized preludes became the foundation of Gershwin’s duet for violin and piano called Short Story.
Amy Carr-Richardson, in her 2011 article in Gamut: Online Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, wrote “Because Grantham sets the fragments from Gershwin in ways that exploit every possible musical character inherent in the Prelude – as a scherzo, a lyrical waltz, blues, swing, etc. – the work provides a survey of stylistic traits, especially those associated with American popular music from the early 20th century.” She also provided a quotation from theorist Joseph Straus:
In recomposition, a composer takes a familiar object from the shared world of our inherited musical culture and, by altering it and presenting it in a new context, forces us to hear it in a new way. In the process, the composer attacks our normal, customary ways of approaching these familiar objects.
- Program Note from the University of Nebraska Wind Ensemble concert program, 28 February 2016
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor)
- Audio CD: North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) - 2007
State Ratings
- Alabama: Class AA
- Virginia: VI
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Orchestra (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) - 22 September 2023
- University of South Florida (Tampa) Wind Ensemble (Matthew McCutchen, conductor) – 23 April 2019
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Michael Butler, conductor) – 5 December 2018
- Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Ensemble (David Kehler, conductor) – 10 October 2018
- Indiana University (Bloomington) Wind Ensemble (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) – 25 September 2018
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) – 25 February 2016 (CBDNA 2016 North Central Division Conference, Ames, Iowa)
- Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) Wind Ensemble (Damon S. Talley, conductor) – 1 December 2016
- University of Texas (Austin) Wind Ensemble (Jerry Junkin, conductor) – 23 October 2016
- University of Louisiana-Lafayette Wind Ensemble (William Hochkeppel, conductor) - 16 March 2016
- University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) – 28 February 2016
- University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor) – 6 September 2011
- San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (William V. Johnson, conductor) – 18 October 2009
- University of Louisville (Ky.) Wind Ensemble (Frederick Speck, conductor) – 26 February 2005 (CBDNA 2005 National Conference, New York, N.Y.)
- University of Oklahoma (Norman) Wind Ensemble (William Wakefield, conductor) – 25 February 1999 (CBDNA 1999 National Conference, Austin, Tx.)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- After Hafiz (2016)
- Amber Sky
- Baron Cimetiere's Mambo (2004)
- Baron Piquant on Pointe (2011)
- Baron La Croix's Shuffle (2007)
- Baron Samedi's Sarabande (and Soft Shoe) (2005)
- Bum's Rush (1994)
- Chant and Hymn for Our Lady
- Circa 1600 (2018)
- Cloudless Day, Bitter Sky (2002)
- "Come Memory..." (2002)
- Concerto in One Movement for Bass Trombone (1979)
- Court Music (2005)
- Don't You See? (2001)
- Effulgent Light (2017)
- Exhilaration and Cry (2008)
- Fantasy on "In Dulci Jubilo" (2015)
- Fantasy on "La Golondrina" (2003)
- Fantasy on Mr. Hyde's Song (1998)
- Fantasy Variations (1927/1998)
- Farewell to Gray (2001)
- Fayetteville Bop (2002)
- From "An Alabama Songbook" (2007)
- Honey in the Rock (2008)
- JS Dances (2003)
- J'ai été au bal (1999)
- Kentucky Harmony (2000)
- Let Evening Come (Grantham) (2014)
- Lone Star Twister (2008)
- Music for the Blanton (2006)
- Northern Celebration (2001)
- Phantasticke Spirites (2002)
- Shenandoah (2017)
- Southern Harmony (1998)
- Wondrous Love (2008)
- Sol y Sombra (2014)
- Spangled Heavens (2010)
- Starry Crown (2007)
- Symphony for Winds and Percussion (2009)
- Stomp (Grantham) (2009)
- Summer of 2008 (2008)
- Thunderbird
- Trumpet Gloria (2006)
- Tuba Concerto (Grantham) (2012)
- An Uneasy Mrch
- Variations on an American Cavalry Song (2001)
- What Comes Around... (2017)
- A Winter Sky (2022)
Resources
- Grantham, D.; Gershwin, G. (1999). Fantasy Variations: (on George Gershwin's Prelude II for Piano) [score]. WB Music: Miami, Fla.
- Miles, Richard B. 2000. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 3. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 666-670.