From: http://www.vanrecital.com/season/9900/concert10_notes.html

Programme Notes
by Patricia Plumley

Beethoven, Fantasia Op. 77

"Innovation and exploration are the compelling forces in the development of art. . . . The piano sonata provided Beethoven (1770-1827) with the perfect forum for architectural rendering; the fantasy offered him freedom to engage in the art of improvisational whim. In the Fantasia Op. 77, 1809, the listener is whisked through innumerable and fleeting tempo-mood-key changes in a short 254 bars of music. Few keys between the original g minor and the concluding B major are left unexplored. The brilliant toccata-like improvisations culminate in a set of variations on a child-like theme. Of note to the listening ear is the brief window to a Mozartian world in the penultimate variation. The glimpse is brief and impassioned exuberance takes over once again. Beethoven's commitment to the future is clear."