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Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) · sheet music

  • Key D minor
  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 8–9
  • Passages 2

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian classical (1756–1791). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at levels 8–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 41–44 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 25–28 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397.

  1. Hands together · bars 41–44 level 8
  2. The hardest bars · bars 25–28 level 9

How to play Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397

  1. Tempo:The Fantasia moves between several tempos, from slow Andante and Adagio to lively D major at the end. Learn each section at its own pace, then plan how one will blend into the next.
  2. Fingering:Settle on a fingering for the opening arpeggios that lets them pass smoothly from one register to the next, then play them softly and evenly so they do not sound like a drill.
  3. Left hand:In the dramatic episode the left hand slides down in chromatic octaves. Practice them slowly with a loose wrist, reading each step as a half step down rather than a new pair of notes.
  4. Right hand:The Adagio melody is full of sighs. Lean gently on the first note of each pair and let the second note fall away.
  5. Hands together:Let the left hand support rather than lead. In the melodic sections, practice with the left hand very quiet until the melody floats.
  6. Dynamics:The drama comes from sudden contrasts. Exaggerate soft and loud in practice, then back off to what feels natural for the room.
  7. Pedal:Use the pedal sparingly and change it with each harmony, so the clear lines of the melody and accompaniment never smear.
  8. Practice:Mark every pause and tempo change in your score before you start. Rehearse the moments of silence as carefully as the notes.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the opening arpeggios in strict time like an exercise. Fix: Let the first few notes breathe a little, as if you were improvising, and keep the sound soft.
  • Rushing through the pauses between sections. Fix: Count the length of each pause in your head and listen to the room before moving on.
  • Playing the final D major section too heavily. Fix: Lighten your touch so the quartet-like accompaniment sounds crisp and playful.
  • Treating the sighing pairs of notes as two equal notes. Fix: Practice the pairs as a single gesture that leans on the first note and relaxes on the second.

Structure: free fantasia

A fantasia follows no fixed pattern. This one alternates dark, improvised-sounding music with a plaintive melody and agitated bursts, then lights up into a lively D major finish. The unfinished state of the original means the ending is partly someone else's work.

Intro · Opening arpeggios (D minor)
Slow, darkly colored arpeggios that drift toward a dramatic pause. Reading here is about keeping the broken chords smooth and unhurried.
A · Adagio melody (D minor)
A sighing, song-like melody that forms the emotional core of the piece.
B · Dramatic episode
Sharper, more agitated music, with the left hand descending in dark chromatic octaves.
C · Returning melody (A minor)
The Adagio song comes back, now in A minor.
Finale · Allegretto in D major (D major)
A simple, lighter D major melody over an accompaniment modeled on string quartet writing.

About Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397

Mozart's Fantasia in D minor is usually dated to about 1782, though the exact date and the reason he wrote it are not known. It was published only after his death, and the first edition, from 1804, stops unfinished on a pause over the dominant seventh chord of D major.

The version most pianists play today ends with ten extra measures in D major. They first appeared in a Breitkopf & Härtel edition in 1806 and are usually credited to the composer August Eberhard Müller, although that attribution is not certain. The pianist Mitsuko Uchida has offered a different ending that returns to D minor and the opening arpeggios.

Mozart wrote relatively few works in minor keys, and this one shares its key with Don Giovanni and the Requiem. The Fantasia takes its cue from the free fantasias of C.P.E. Bach, moving through sharply contrasting moods without a fixed form.

  • The first edition of 1804 ends unfinished on a pause over the dominant seventh chord of D major.
  • The ten-bar D major ending most pianists play is usually credited to August Eberhard Müller, though the attribution is uncertain.
  • Mitsuko Uchida suggests ending the piece by returning to D minor and its opening arpeggios.
  • D minor is also the key of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni and his Requiem.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because it carries accidentals outside the key.

Expect rolling broken chords in the left hand and sighing melodic pairs in the right. Chromatic accidentals mark the dramatic episodes, so check each one before you play it.

Questions about Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397

How hard is Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 25–28 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 41–44 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because it carries accidentals outside the key.
What key and time signature is Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 in?
Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 is in D minor, 1 flat. The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian classical (1756–1791). Mozart's Fantasia in D minor is usually dated to about 1782, though the exact date and the reason he wrote it are not known.
Can I practice Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Did Mozart finish the Fantasia in D minor?
No. The first edition in 1804 stops on a pause over the dominant seventh chord of D major. The ten-bar ending heard today was added in an 1806 edition and is usually credited to August Eberhard Müller.
How long is Mozart's Fantasia in D minor?
A performance lasts about six to seven minutes, and the excerpts on this page are short passages from it.
Is Mozart's Fantasia in D minor in the public domain?
Yes. Mozart died in 1791, so the music is in the public domain, although modern editions may carry their own copyright.
How long does it take to learn Mozart's D minor Fantasia?
Because the technical demands are modest, many intermediate pianists can learn the notes in a few weeks. Shaping the sudden changes of mood is what takes longer.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 41–44 both hands
Level 9
bars 25–28 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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