Fantasy Op.140 (1990)

Apart from a comparatively early Sonatina, all of Sir Malcolm Arnold’s recorder music - the solo Fantasy of 1986, the Concerto of 1988 and the quintet Fantasy of 1990 - was written for Michala Petri and first performed by her. The wide diversity of expression in the present Fantasy, which accommodates four different members of the recorder family in its five movements, is a demonstration of the composer’s faith in her sensitivity and musicianship, not to mention her technical virtuosity. More closely integrated than its succession of short pieces might seem to suggest, the Fantasy opens with an Andante e mesto (for treble recorder) which introduces and develops the desolate main theme of the work. A brilliant, if squeaky, little Allegro (for sopranino) is followed by a Lento e mesto (for descant), recalling both the mood of the first movement and something of its melodic material. After an attractively coloured French waltz (for tenor), the closing Vivace (for treble again) offers not only a briskly cheerful ending but also a discreet review of earlier thematic events.