John Exton: Fantasy (1962)

Abstract

"Composed in 1962, John Extons Fantasy is a twelve-tone work (though not a strict one) with a simple outline easily grasped and felt by the listener. Beginning with a poignant, slow soliloquy by the violin, the piano creeps in with a bare, soft, staccato line. Though momentum is built up with the addition of more notes and fast, spasmodic fragments, the mood remains tentative with many pauses and sudden endings in mid-flight. While the middle section is more legato, the final section returns to the mood of the opening: the violin, slow and deliberate during this time, is accompanied by soft, bell-like chords from the piano." -- Margaret Legge-Wilkinson