A chromatic fantasia is a specific type of fantasia (or fantasy or fancy) originating in sixteenth-century Europe. In its earliest form, it is based on a chromatically

descending tetrachord In music theory, the descending tetrachord is a series of four notes from a scale (music), scale, or tetrachord, arranged in order from highest to lowest, or descending order. For example, --- , as created by the Andalusian cadence. The descendi ...

which arises naturally out of the

dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...

. Consequently, the chromatic fantasia is almost invariably in

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

(D-E-F-G-A-B-C rather than D-E-F-G-A-B-C) even as late as

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Some early examples

Among the earliest examples are two celebrated lute pieces by

John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...

, the ''Farewell'' and ''Forlorn Hope Fancy''. These were obviously highly influential of

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard comp ...

whose own Fantasia Chromatica in many ways forms a link between the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Bach's chromatic fantasia

The chromatic fantasy, as a form, fell into neglect in the later seventeenth century. About a century after Sweelinck, J. S. Bach contributed the most famous examples of the form, in his ''

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue The ''Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue'' in D minor, , is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach probably composed it during his time in Köthen from 1717 to 1723. The piece was already regarded as a unique masterpiece during his life ...

'', BWV 903.

References

Chromatic fantasia Renaissance music genres Chromaticism {{Music-genre-stub