A thrilling account of Schubert’s colossal (and ingenious) Wanderer Fantasy. The Wanderer Fantasy is at once a fantasy built around an implied variation form, a one-movement sonata, and a traditional four-movement sonata. This is all possible because every single movement is built around the same motif, which is itself derived from the opening phrase of Schubert’s lied Der Wanderer (this opening phrase is quoted nearly exactly in the opening of the second movement.) Note also how Schubert integrates organic transitions between movements into the work: the opening of Mvt 3 is directly derived from the LH figuration at the end of Mvt 2, for instance. As the work progresses from movement to movement without pause, we hear the Wanderer motif being constantly transformed; in the first movement it is used as the subject of a sonata form (both themes in this movement are similar enough that calling it monothematic is quite fair); in the second as the base of a set of variations; in the third as part of a magnificent scherzo in compound time, and in the fourth as the basis of a fugue which builds to a truly thunderous finale. The Wanderer Fantasy represents the first truly structural use of the device of thematic transformation, which Liszt exploited to its fullest in his great B Minor Sonata – it is no coincidence that Liszt was highly familiar with the Wanderer Fantasy, as his transcriptions of it attest.
Lewis’ performance of the Wanderer Fantasy demonstrates that Schubert was a fantastic colorist and dramatist in the full-blooded Beethovenian mould; he is more willing than most to allow Schubert’s music to expand into the vast sounds it requires. The first movement opens with propulsive energy, but quickly broadens into fine deltas of light and shade. The second features some remarkably subtle pianissimo playing [see the passage beginning at 10:58] shot through with almost unbearable restlessness [see the beautiful buildup beginning at 7:50]. The third bounds along until Lewis suddenly arrests all movement with a dreamlike trio; and the fourth builds up ferociously with ironclad clarity into a climax of blinding ecstasy [see the sheer sweep of 18:37, and so on].
00:00 – Mvt 1, Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
05:42 – Mvt 2, Adagio
12:14 – Mvt 3, Presto
16:59 – Mvt 4, Allegro