Not all art is immortal. Nor should it be. Although all art is the inspired creation of a moment, not all moments are eternal. Some moments are transitory and some art embodies those evanescent moments, and when those moments are gone, the art is evaporates.
The Moods, Impressions & Reminiscences of Zdenek Fibich have gone and his art has evaporated. While some listeners might argue that Fibich's symphonic works are his more ambitious and more substantial works, others would insist that they are merely longer and louder works. But few listeners would argue that Fibich's piano miniatures, the musical diaries of his erotic life, are monuments meant for the ages. As
William Howard demonstrates in this fine 1995 Chandos recording, Fibich's Moods, Impressions & Reminiscences enshrine experiences that are ecstatic, despairing, sensual, sentimental, and sometimes very, very sexy, but they are rather intimate.
Chopin's piano miniatures have all the same qualities of Fibich's, but
Chopin's music transcends the transitory for the eternal because it incarnates rather than embodies its evanescent moments. Fibich's music is music of an erotic moment, music meant for instant gratification and not to last longer than the moment that inspired it. By the mid-'90s, Chandos' sound had mellowed, losing its hard edge and gaining weight and depth.