Fantasy Pieces for viola and piano is a commissioned piece by violist I-Chia Tseng for her recital in 2018. Inspired by Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, this piece has three movements with the same title in English of Schumann’s piece; however, it is different from Schumann’s piece in the way that each movement has its own title, which is inspired by another three works.

The first movement, “Excursion”, is inspired by Samuel Barber’s Excursions, Op. 20. It includes an ostinato throughout the whole movement, while having a nostalgic pentatonic melody on viola. Scenes of the surroundings, portraying in the music, are frequently changed in a steady walking tempo. The second movement, “Song without Words”, is inspired by Felix Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte. With highly chromatic harmonic progressions, a simple tune becomes no longer simple. Many melodic fragments are hidden inside the music to symbolize the precious yet forgotten time. The third and final movement, “Night Fight”, is inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Vol de Nuit. Flying at night makes a journey dangerous and unpredictable. In the second section of this movement, it is falling in a huge musical line as that a flight is lost at night. Sometimes things get out of control, but we still pluck up courage to face difficulties in our life.