Fantaisie #1 "Nuit Sans Sommeil" (Night Without Sleep)

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Fantaisie #1 "Nuit Sans Sommeil" (Night Without Sleep)

by Danaë Xanthe Vlasse

For Advanced-Level pianist, approximately 9 min long.

Winner: Prestige Music Awards Gold Medal in Composition 2013 & Global Music Awards 2013 Honorable Mention Award.

Program Notes :

This first Fantaisie, as suggested by its title, was composed as a response to a number of sleepless nights. The thematic material is found throughout, expressed as an "idée fixe" with an evolving emotional framework. This idée fixe represents the uncontrollable obsessions of the subconscious as they cycle through a fitful, sleepless night.

The piece moves through a vast range of emotional extremes as the initial expression of melancholy builds and evolves towards increasingly emotional declamations. The traditional Fantasy Form determines that the structure of the piece must be relatively free, so the work is given structure through the symmetry of the large sections. Furthermore, the cohesion of this piece is achieved through balanced phrasing, and the recurring presence of the original thematic material, which is represented not only in many keys, but also in differing registers, in melodic inversion and with thematic variation. The core of the work is where the composition construction is most complex: constantly juggling multiple layers of melodic ideas superimposed upon one another. As new melodic material emerges it encourages a dispute between animated passion and emotions of a more whimsical or reposed state. The coda suggests a delirious, exhausted conclusion to the seemingly endless night, with the last hints of the idée fixe overcome by hallucination and finally yielding to a fanciful flight into dreams.