Schumann's great C-major Fantasy, op. 17, was originally intended to be published as a ''Sonata for Beethoven'' entitled ''Ruins, Trophies, Palms. Grand Sonata.'' Although he eventually abandoned this plan, he maintained the Fantasy's mighty design. Writing to his fiancee Clara Wieck in March 1838, he called the first movement ''perhaps the most impassioned music I have ever written.'' Accordingly, it marks a point of culmination in his piano music, forming an exemplary combination of passion, delicacy, and virtuosity - a demanding, highly romantic work for ambitious pianists! Our volume presents a thorough revision of the musical text as well as an informative preface and text-critical commentary.