Scoring: Soli SSATB, Coro SATB, Pfte solo, Fl, Ob, Clt, Fg, Cor, Tr, Timp, 2 Vl, Va, Vc/Cb

In his Choral Fantasy (Fantasie), Beethoven created a paean to art that is at once both a cantata and a concert piece. The roughly twenty-minute work is often seen as a precursor to the Ninth Symphony’s “Ode to Joy”. After a contemplative piano introduction, a virtuosic dialogue unfolds – much like in a concerto – between piano and orchestra before the vocal soloists and choir make their entrance....