Geneettinen näkökulma Fantasia apocaliptican kokonaismuotoon

Abstract

In 1921, Erkki Melartin wrote an apocalyptic fantasy for piano solo: Sonata 1, Fantasia apocaliptica, opus 111. In Finland, the single-movement work was unprecedented in its modernistic approach to tonality and form. It remained unpublished and was not publicly performed during the composer’s lifetime. The first edition was published as late as in 1993.

In the article, the extant autograph manuscript sources for the work are analysed. The analysis – based on the methodology of genetic criticism – reveals that Melartin originally did not plan it as a single-movement work. Instead, the earliest surviving layer in the manuscripts is intended as a separate movement within a multi-movement piano work. The study of the manuscripts draws forth an intriguing creative process, in which the composer has interwoven material from his plans for a multi-movement work into a large-scale single-movement work. The study also reveals a need for a new edition, which would be based on a rigorous study of all existing sources.