fantasia

American  

[fan-tey-zhuh, -zhee-uh, fan-tuh-zee-uh] / fænˈteɪ ʒə, -ʒi ə, ˌfæn təˈzi ə /

noun

1. Music.

   1. a composition in fanciful or irregular form or style.

   2. a potpourri of well-known airs arranged with interludes and florid embellishments.

2. fantasy.

3. something considered to be unreal, weird, exotic, or grotesque.

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fantasia British  

/ ˌfæntəˈzɪə, fænˈteɪzɪə /

noun

1. any musical composition of a free or improvisatory nature

2. a potpourri of popular tunes woven freely into a loosely bound composition

3. another word for fancy

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Etymology

Origin of fantasia

From Italian, dating back to 1715–25; see origin at fantasy

Explanation

A fantasia is a partially improvised, free flowing piece of music. Familiar tunes are often included in a fantasia. You might hear a fantasia at the symphony, scattered with well-known bits of folk songs. Most fantasias are a bit unpredictable, since they tend to use improvisation and an unstructured style, with classical fantasias sometimes mixing fast sections with much slower ones. Fantasia is also the title of the third animated Disney film, made in 1940 and featuring cartoons set to eight pieces of classical music. The Greek root of both fantasia and fantasy is phantasia — "imagination or appearance."