The Fantasia for piano, chorus, and orchestra - known unofficially as the "Choral Fantasy" - was introduced to the world under extraordinary circumstances. Beethoven was enjoying a period of intense productivity and had several recent works he wanted to showcase. In a single concert, he performed a lengthy improvisation at the piano and offered the premieres of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the concert aria "Ah! Perfido" ("Ah, Faithless One"), movements from the Mass in C, the Piano Concerto #4, and this Fantasy. The concert lasted more than four hours during an evening in late December, and the expense of rehearsing so much music had left no money in the budget to heat the hall. The Choral Fantasy came last on the program; whatever audience members remained must have been overwhelmed by everything they had already heard - or simply too cold to get out of their seats. Even so, in its debut setting, the piece must have captured a sense of culmination and celebration. Today, it makes an excellent choice to close programs of a particularly festive nature.