Contemporaneous with the Sixth Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 5, this work is one of Beethoven's rare forays into a form distinguished mainly by a loose, improvisational structure. Even working within this formal freedom, however, Beethoven invested the Fantasia with the elements of drama and struggle that so readily characterize his symphonies, sonatas, and similar works. The Fantasia begins with two descending scalar passages often thought of as posing a question or suggesting doubt or indecision. These are immediately followed by a somewhat melancholy adagio passage that seems to start in the middle of a phrase, as if confused or uncertain. The scales are heard again, as is the Adagio music. Beethoven inserts a pause after each one of these exchanges, as if to suggest doubt, or to present each as a separate episode. There follows a happy, lively passage which interleaves with the descending scales, pauses included between them again. Finally, these hesitant exchanges cease with the appearance of a jovial theme. Eventually it turns nervous and tentative, then falls apart, yielding to an ascending run. A new theme, marked Allegro, is presented and appears determined at the outset to outlive its thematic predecessors. It, too, dies away, however, and the seemingly ubiquitous scales return to reintroduce a sense of menace. The direction of the piece now seems in a state of flux, with one new idea struggling to take shape but finding the endeavor difficult. Finally, a thematic life is born, but by way of evolution rather than via a sudden seizing of power, as previous themes had tried. This Presto subject grows and casts sunlight over the remainder of the piece, even weathering a return of the scales. All the themes are actually related here, as it turns out, though it will appear difficult at the outset, and even midway though the piece, to hear it as a theme-and-variations scheme. This work, which concludes triumphantly, remains one of the most interesting compositions of its kind: clearly there is a story of struggle here, which, through persistence and faith, ends in triumph. Beethoven dedicated this work to Count Franz von Brunsvik. It was first published in Leipzig and London in 1810.

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