A Fantasia Cromática BWV 903, de J. S. Bach

Abstract

The Chromatic Fantasy is considered to be one of Bach’s most enigmatic works. Unique both in its writing and in the level of technical virtuosity – considering the period in which it was composed – its free character is in accordance with the “Stylus Fantasticus” as described by Kircher, Mattheson and C. P. E. Bach. The analysis proposed in this text focuses on the harmonic path of this discourse, which, as it is not subordinated to thematic materials and standardized formal structures, presents itself as an instrumental improvisation, in which the inventiveness of the composer-improviser would takes place at the time of execution. The surprising transformations of harmonic content, rare in other Baroque musical genres, are, for this Fantasia, the basis for persuasion and eloquence to be effectively and ingeniously constructed.