Description
A Fairy Tale Fantasy Op.421
“A Fairy Tale Fantasy” (Fantasia Clarinet Quartet)
About A Fairy Tale Fantasy Op.421
This work is essentially a tone poem for a clarinet quartet (S,S,S,B).
The premise of which is the stereotypical story of the good prince, the beautiful maiden and the evil sorcerer and his henchmen.
The work was first scored for woodwind sextet and then set for full symphonic orchestra.
Arranged for an advanced-level clarinet quartet, this version has only a few minor alterations from the original symphonic version.
Audio, Themes and storyline
0:00: The piece begins with a view of the Kingdom and the people going about their everyday business.
0:34: The next theme depicts the maiden wandering through the forests unaware of the evil lurking not far away.
1:17: The next theme depicts the trolls lurking down by the stream waiting to capture the maiden who is blissfully unaware of the danger lurking.
1:44: The next theme is the trolls getting closer to the maiden down by the stream as the maiden daydreams.
2:10: The trolls move closer and closer to their prey.
3:34: The slower, romantic theme that follows depicts the maiden, only that it is played in its entirety as she daydreams of her true love, the prince.
4:38: The fanfare theme introduces and leads the prince’s theme with stately march-type accompaniment.
5:09: Suddenly, this theme dissolves into that of the evil sorcerer, (5:54). This theme dissolves into a scene of the prince dashing through the forest on his charger unaware that he will soon see his lady love down by the stream, (6:13).
6:32: The following romantic, flowery theme depicts the prince daydreaming of marrying her, (6:51).
7:17: This theme dissolves into that of the trolls approaching the maiden and springing their trap on her, capturing the maiden and absconding with her to the evil sorcerer’s tower.
7:54: The maiden screams “help me! help me!” And prince hears her cries for help.
8:25: The prince is too late to save her but he charges toward the sorcerer’s tower in a desperate attempt to get there before he completes his wicked spell to make her disappear forever.
8:57: The prince draws his sword, fights with and finally vanquishes the sorcerer (9:13-9:25) believing that he has saved the maiden, he rushes toward her just as she begins to vanish from sight, (10:13).
10:30: The prince falls to his knees and weeps bitter tears and as he does, the maiden magically re-appears, (10:45)
11:10: The two are wed and the kingdom rejoices. 12:03-12:40 They all live happily ever after. The End!
About the Work
The level is advanced with a range of Low “C1” to “F4” for bass clarinet and Low “E1” to “A4” for the 1st clarinet.
The score also contains this story synopsis with time codes for the audio demo that comes with this product.
Duration: The duration of the work is circa 12:40 minutes.
You can listen to the audio demo of this work in the description of this product.
What is a Tone Poem?
