For Mozart, C minor was a key of "inkiest blackness," reflecting a mood of despair in works like the Fantasia in C minor, K475.
Composition History
Mozart's Fantasia in C minor, K396/K385f, was left unfinished by the composer in 1782 and later completed by Maximilian Stadler, an accomplished composer and music adviser to Mozart's widow.
Compositional Technique
Mozart's Fantasia in C minor, K475, begins with an extraordinarily original and daring ringing, bare octave, followed by a motif that creeps rather than sings.
Performer Biography
Stephen Hough, the pianist on this album, is considered one of the most important and distinctive pianists of his generation, known for integrating historical imagination with modern intellectual rigor.
Composition History
Franz Liszt's Fantasia on themes from Mozart's operas was left incomplete and played only once by Liszt himself in 1843.
Composer Biography
Maximilian Stadler, who completed one of Mozart's Fantasias, was also the first to order and catalogue Mozart's manuscripts.
Performer Biography
Stephen Hough was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, recognizing his unique contributions to contemporary life.
