Debussy sketched out his Fantaisie for piano and orchestra during the latter part of the year 1889, and completed work on the score, apparently to his satisfaction, in 1890. However, the curious fate of this attractive and atmospheric work has continued to exercise Debussy scholars for more than a century. Little is known of the relationship which obtained between Debussy and his publishers, save for the fact that it was usually cordial and business-like. After the Fantaisie had been engraved for printing, a proof copy was sent to the composer in the normal way, for his approval, and Debussy seems to have had nothing but admiration for what he saw.

There is no record of Debussy having requested any alterations, and it was agreed that the work was to be featured at one of the concerts of the Société Nationale de Musique (an organization dedicated to the advancement of French composers and the establishment of a national identity for French music) planned for the 1890 season. The performance was to be conducted by Debussy's friend and colleague Vincent d'Indy, and all should have been well. But inexplicably (even if it was not altogether out of character) Debussy suddenly withdrew the work after rehearsals had commenced, placing an immediate embargo upon it and steadfastly refusing to allow it to be played in public throughout the rest of his life. Incidentally, the concert itself went ahead as planned, and one of the works included, a song Dansons la Gigue, based on the Northumbrian folk-tune The Keel-Row must surely have given Debussy the idea of using this same theme in "Gigues", one of his Trois Nocturnes.

In the event, the Fantaisie for piano and orchestra was not heard of again until after Debussy's death, when it was revived, published, and eventually performed. It is remarkably conventional in its form and structure, with precisely calculated orchestration and a wide ranging if not exceptionally difficult solo piano part, which seems to owe much to the general mood of César Franck's Variations symphoniques. Debussy himself reportedly commented (according to Robert Godet) on the orchestration of his work, which he felt to be too heavy, but a more likely reason for his withdrawal of the piece was that, having heard it, he felt that he had not been successful in developing a set of variations on the main theme.

While there is abundant vitality and exuberance in the writing, many commentators feel the work is not truly representative of Debussy's personal style. As we have suggested, the variation technique is derived from Franck, and even the central slow movement is rather un-Debussyian. The final section, too, is mannered and occasionally rather stiff and mechanical. In summary, Debussy's Fantaisie, which is very seldom performed in the concert hall, and just as infrequently recorded, must be seen as a fairly insignificant piece of juvenilia, but one which probably did not deserve the harsh treatment it originally received.

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