Donald Martino's Fantasy Variations: The First Three Measures
James Boros · Perspectives of New Music · 1991
D ONALD MARTINO'S Fantasy Variations for solo violin was written in 1962, and directly antedates Parisonatina al'Dodecafonia and the Concerto for Wind Quintet, two works which proved to be turning points in the evolution of the composer's highly personal musical language. Upon hearing the piece for the first time, I was immediately struck by the opening three measures, which are isolated from the music that follows by a double bar and a fermata-see Example 1. In many respects, the passage is strikingly simple, yet, despite its brevity, it contains a wealth of musical information and implications. This paper is limited to an examination of these three measures, and consists of two parts, each of which explores a different way of approaching the music. In part one, I attempt to detach the opening passage from the rest of the piece and hear it as a multidimensional, miniature musical composition. In part two, I focus on pitch-