This piece was written in 1979 as Martin Lichtfuss’ first “valid” composition even before he began his composition studies at the Vienna Academy of Music. It is influenced by traditional organ literature and especially by the works of Bach, which he approached at that time as an amateur organist. His goal was to realize the established two-part formal model ” … and fugue” in the classical musical language of the 20th century, which was familiar to him at the time and which he considered relevant.

In this work, two essential means of composition already appear, which he has repeatedly taken up and further developed in almost all of his later works, and which here form the opposite poles of a field of tension: a lively rhythm with frequently changing meters as the starting point for the concept of the fantasy, and in contrast to this, the melodic chromaticism of the opening motive and fugue theme in connection with a free-tonal/free-modal harmony, later often also in a state of suspension between tonality and atonality. The latter is rather left out here; the tonal center “C” of this piece, however, appears to be relativized over long sections by polytonal references.

The revision of the composition that took place in 2021 was limited to some tonal refinements and condensations, without, however, changing the identity of the original version.