Fantasia

Fantasia is, like Capriccio, a title given to an instrumental composition whose form cannot be classified under any of the recognised species, but is a product of the individual fancy of the composer. In the music of the last two centuries it was applied to pieces containing imitative passages, similar to the vocal madrigal; and hence the 'working-out' section in the sonata form has obtained the name of 'free fantasia.' The modern fantasia is, however, usually a pot-pourri—a medley of favourite airs, with intermediate 'brilliant' passages—a species of effusion to which it is to be regretted an impetus has been given by pianists of the rank of Thalberg and Liszt.