Grande fantaisie sur 'Semiramide', Op. 51

Instrumentation

Musical Terms (6)

• brillante Italian
  Brilliant — a tempo and character marking indicating that passagework should be played with maximum clarity, speed, and sparkle. In the Romantic salon tradition, brillante passages are opportunities for virtuosic display while remaining under disciplined technical control.
  Brillante does not mean rushed. Ensure every note of a brilliant passage is equal in weight and clarity — listeners should hear distinct pearls, not a blur. Practise at reduced tempo with exaggerated finger articulation before building to performance speed.
• cantabile Italian
  In a singing style — smooth, lyrical, with legato connection between notes and natural phrase shaping. The fundamental expressive quality of Thalberg's melodic writing, directly derived from his study of bel canto opera.
  Achieve cantabile by connecting fingers as if passing a single sustained breath from note to note. Minimise any gap between notes in the melody. Weight the fingertips rather than the knuckles to produce a rounder, more sustained tone.
• chant appliqué au piano French
  Singing applied to the piano — Thalberg's principle that the piano can and should imitate the human voice, sustaining and shaping a cantabile melodic line above (or within) its accompaniment with the same breath and nuance a singer would use.
  Thalberg taught that every melody note should feel as though it is being 'breathed.' Shape phrases according to the natural rise and fall of vocal breath rather than mechanical note-by-note articulation. Use the sustain pedal to support longer melodic notes as a singer would support with air.
• grand fantaisie French
  Thalberg's characteristic large-scale form: a concert piece based on operatic themes, typically comprising a slow, ornamented introduction; a set of variations or elaborations on the principal themes; and a brilliant concluding section. Duration typically 8–12 minutes.
  In the grand fantaisie, manage the overall arc carefully — the slow introduction establishes the operatic source material before the technical brilliance unfolds. Never sacrifice the singing quality of the operatic themes for the sake of the passage work.
• salon style French/English
  A manner of piano writing and performance intended for intimate domestic concerts — emphasising elegance, lyrical beauty, and accessible virtuosity rather than structural depth. The aesthetic context in which most of Thalberg's output was composed and first performed.
  Salon style demands impeccable surface finish — smooth legato, even passagework, carefully shaped dynamics — but should never feel effortful or heavy. The impression is of effortless elegance. Any strain or difficulty in the playing must be completely concealed.
• three-hand effect English
  Thalberg's signature illusion in which the melody appears to be played by a third, middle hand while the two actual hands provide accompaniment above and below. Achieved by placing the melody in the thumbs of both hands in the middle register while the right hand plays treble figuration and the left hand bass arpeggios.
  The melody thumb notes must be held and slightly over-weighted against the surrounding figuration. Practise the melody alone first until it sings independently, then add the bass and treble layers at half volume. The listener should hear three simultaneous textural layers with the melody always dominant.