3 Fantasy Pieces, Op. 19 - Clarinet and Piano

Danish pianist and composer August Hendrik Winding (1835-1899) enjoyed considerable acclaim during his lifetime, though his name and works were consigned to obscurity for the majority of the past century. A student of the great Romantic composers Niels Gade and Carl Reinecke, Winding taught at the Copenhagen Conservatory from 1867, eventually succeeding Gade as director of the conservatory in 1891. He remained in this post until his death.

Winding composed symphonies, piano concerti, chamber works, songs, and piano works. His works elicited praise from Hugo Riemann, whose encyclopedia (1900) describes him as a "productive and remarkable composer," and Hans von Bulow, who specifically mentions the "Drei Phantasiestucke" among a number of Winding's "notable compositions" in his 1882 "Skandinavischen Concertreiseskizzen".

Winding composed his "Drei Phantasiestucke", Op. 19 in or around 1871 and published the work through Kistner (Leipzig) in 1872 with both solo clarinet and solo violin parts. "Drei Phantasiestucke" was undoubtedly influenced by the burgeoning genre of fantasy pieces for clarinet and piano established by Schumann (1849), Gade (1864), and Reinecke (1865). Though Winding's harmonic progressions venture beyond the conservatism of his teachers and foreshadow works by later Danish composers, his pieces possess a characteristically clear formal scheme and contrapuntal texture.

This edition is based on the the 1872 Kistner first edition of "Drei Phantasiestucke". It has been edited by Matthew Nelson who has corrected a few errors and resolved several inconsistencies in the dynamics, articulation, rhythms, and beaming that exist between parts in the first edition. Nevertheless, some rhythmic and phrasing inconsistencies appear intentional, and have not been altered in the present edition.