''Concerto Fantastique'' is an
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
l composition in four movements by the American composer
Ralph Shapey. The work was commissioned by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...
, who first performed the work under the composer on November 21, 1991.
It was a finalist for the 1992
Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Composition
''Concerto Fantastique'' has a duration of roughly one hour and is composed in four
movements
Movement may refer to:
Generic uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
* Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...
:
#Variations
#Elegy
#Intermezzo
#Rondo
The first movement, "Variations", is dedicated to the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
,
at which Shapey was on faculty from the mid-1960s until his retirement in 1991. The second movement, "Elegy", is dedicated to the late Chicago-based philanthropist
Paul Fromm. The last two movements, "Intermezzo" and "Rondo", are both dedicated to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Shapey described the composition process, remarking, "I started out to write a concerto, but as I was writing the piece it became more and more obvious that this was not just a concerto. That is how ''Fantastique'' came to be added to the title. I wrote the piece for a virtuoso orchestra and virtuoso players. The second, third and fourth movements come directly out of the first. Each movement is complete within itself, but you can also regard the entire work as a great big
sonata-allegro form."
Reception
World premiere
''Concerto Fantastique'' received a mixed response from the audience at its world premiere. Wynne Delacoma of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' observed, "The hall was full at the start of the evening, probably because
Alfred Brendel was opening the program with
Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...
's
Piano Concerto No. 2. A portion of the audience didn't return from intermission to hear Shapey conduct his own work, and more left in the pauses between the four movements." The music critic John von Rhein of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' similarly wrote, "There was a noticeable exodus of audience members between movements of Shapey's hourlong work and scattered boos at the end." Despite this, Rhein added, "But the applause was considerable, and Chicago's most eminent composer, back in front of the CSO after 22 years, clearly savored the moment."
Critical response
The piece has received a very positive reception from music critics. Reviewing the world premiere, John von Rhein wrote, "''Concerto fantastique'' is
hapey'sbiggest work to date, and while I don't think it's his most successful—I much prefer the Shapey of the pungent, concise pieces he has written for his
Contemporary Chamber Players—I would not deny the work's sinewy expressiveness or its stubborn refusal to sound like anybody else but Shapey." He added:
Pulitzer dispute
The jury for the 1992
Pulitzer Prize for Music, comprising
George Perle
George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) was an American composer and music theory, music theorist. As a composer, his music was largely atonality, atonal, using methods similar to the twelve-tone technique of the Second Viennese School. Th ...
,
Roger Reynolds, and
Harvey Sollberger, unanimously chose to submit only ''Concerto Fantastique'' for award consideration, despite Pulitzer rules requiring the jury to submit three works for board consideration. The jury wrote, "Long the creator of original and visionary works in a wide range of musical media, Mr. Shapey has in this work achieved a striking summation that integrates the craggy and uncompromising materials of a very personal language on a grand scale."
When the Pulitzer board demanded an alternative, threatening to forego a music prize for the year, the jury submitted
Wayne Peterson's ''
The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark''. In an upset to the jury, the board selected ''The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark'' over ''Concerto Fantastique'' as the winner.
George Perle commented on the incident, remarking, "I don't want to belittle the Peterson work, which is marvelous. It is absolutely worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. But the Pulitzer Prize is supposed to be for the single best work of the year, and on this occasion we felt that there was a work that was more impressive. We were entirely unanimous on that point, and we did not expect to be overruled."
References
{{Authority control
Compositions by Ralph Shapey
1991 compositions
Concertos for orchestra
Music commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra