Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- John Kameel Farah
Fantasia (2017)
- Bosworth Music (World)
Unavailable for performance.
Programme Note
Unlike all of the other pieces in this album, which mostly have one mood or theme per piece, the Fantasia veers wildly between several contrasting tempos and sound worlds. “Fantasia” or “Fantasy” or even “Fancy” is a title composers would often use for pieces that they could not categorize. It can be an opportunity for composers to abandon their inhibitions and follow their stream-of-consciousness whims. Formerly, this Fantasia was followed by a long Fugue, which can be heard on the original recording: “Past-Piano-Present”. The Fantasia is divided into six sections, each built out of several smaller units: it begins with a soundscape of ambient tones, then moves into a quasi-renaissance counterpoint in the manner of English composer William Byrd. This cadences and moves into a third, quasi-Wagnerian, ascending chord progression, and then moves without break into a series of quirky,
alternating patterns. Section four is overtly minimalist and contains the theme that the opening Prelude is based on, with the right hand playing a pattern in seven, and the left playing a pattern in four. This chaos is compounded by a breakbeat which plays sometimes in 7, sometimes in 4. Finally the Wagnerian section returns, and after a final outburst, resolves itself in a whisper.
- John Kameel Farah
alternating patterns. Section four is overtly minimalist and contains the theme that the opening Prelude is based on, with the right hand playing a pattern in seven, and the left playing a pattern in four. This chaos is compounded by a breakbeat which plays sometimes in 7, sometimes in 4. Finally the Wagnerian section returns, and after a final outburst, resolves itself in a whisper.
- John Kameel Farah