Fantasie op.131

The Fantasie Op.131 of Schumann is a one-movement work that has more of the violin-concerto elements than the first or second violin sonatas that he wrote before in 1851. It is a relatively unknown work of him. With many virtuosic passages and the quick changes of moods, the piece stands out from the other works for the repertoire. The piece is written for Violin and orchestra or piano. Joseph Joachim premiered the piece in Dusseldorf with Schumann as the conductor on 27.10.1853.

Joachim, for whom the work was written, was very pleased with it. It was written not long before Schumann wrote his violin concert WoO.1 that was rediscovered not until 80 years after the composer died, in 1856. Joachim stated that the piece should not be performed until 100 years after the death of the composer, one of the reasons was that Schumann intended to make revisions but died before he was able to make them.

Schumann wrote Joachim to mark the score of the Fantasy before it was published or performed:

"During my work I have often thought of you... This is my first effort of this type for the violin ... Write and tell me what may not be practical in it. I also ask you to mark the bowings in arpeggios and elsewhere... The cadenza is not the final one, I plan to replace it some time later with a weightier one."(Moser, Joachim 1:159)

The piece hints towards a typical style of a concerto with a cadence near the end of the piece. Even though it sounds more than decent with the piano as the accompanying instrument it does hint, with the style of the violin, that an orchestra would be better suited to this piece. From the violinistic point of view, it is a very demanding score with many changes in techniques.