Fantasia

I composed “Fantasia” for two pianos in 1929, while I was a student in Ottorino Respighi’s class in Rome. I orchestrated it in 1930 and dedicated it to my parents on the occasion of their silver wedding.

Needless to say, I compose differently today, but looking back more than five decades, I see nothing to criticize or change.

“Fantasia” for two pianos was performed in Budapest in 1930, at my first Composers’ Evening in the Small Hall of the Academy of Music, by Pál Kadosa and László Káldi. In 1982, pianists Tibor Lévai and Lajos Lévényi rediscovered this early work and included it in their concert program. I thank them for giving my “Fantasia” a new lease on life. — Ferenc Farkas