Second in a set of virtuosic "novelettes" for solo celesta. The title, "Urwald-Phantasie", translates to "Primeval Forest Fantasy", hinting at the kaleidoscopic, florid textures and colors that predominate throughout. A very brief tranquil prologue gives way to a vertiginous, even pyrotechnic thematic statement employing the entire tessitura of the celesta. This, in turn, leads to a complementary thematic statement characterized by an obsessive, perhaps sinister and ever tense rhythmic profile. The "expositio", comprised of the two aforementioned thematic groupings, leads smoothly into a pair of "episodi polifonici" (polyphonic episodes), chromatic miniature fugues treating of discreetly related subjects. This gives way to an "explicatio", a fragmented, quasi-improvisatory quasi-developmental exploration of the rhythmically obsessive second theme of the "expositio". All throughout, the prevalence of strange harmonies both triadic and quartal / quintal, and the juxtaposition of textures and timbres hollow and sparkling, dense and gossamer-light, seek to invoke some boundless remote forest of deep antiquity. A recapitulation of the "expositio" follows, and from this emerges a whirling "sequenzia culminante" ("culminating sequence") focused on the first thematic statement. The work ends almost prismatically, albeit with more subtlety than preceding passages. The painting in the video is "The Fox, Near Gainesville" by Herman Ottomar Herzog.

You will find the full engraved score here:

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