Servais - Fantaisie Caractéristique sur deux célèbres Romances de Lafont, Op. 8 (Urtext Edition)

Fantaisie Caractéristique sur deux célèbres Romances de Lafont is based on songs "C’est une Larme" and "Le Départ du jeune Marin" by the virtuoso violinist Charles Lafont (1781–1839). His songs were also used by other composers such as Franz Liszt and Henri Herz. Lafont also served as arranger for Duo et variations sur la romance "C'est une larme"

Fantaisie Caractéristique sur deux célèbres Romances de Lafont is based on songs "C’est une Larme" and "Le Départ du jeune Marin" by the virtuoso violinist Charles Lafont (1781–1839). His songs were also used by other composers such as Franz Liszt and Henri Herz. Lafont also served as arranger for Duo et variations sur la romance "C'est une larme" based on his own song by Henri Herz.

According to the leading Servais researcher Peter François, Servais had close contact with Lafont in 1834 during his long stay in Paris. The first known performance of Fantaisie Caractéristique happened in Vienna on 20 February 1842 with performances spanning the 1842–1860 period. This work also enjoyed performances abroad. According to the Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Anton Hekking played it with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on 20 May 1891 and 21 January 1891, and with the Boston Pops on 9 July 1891. Fantaisie Caractéristique is dedicated to Nicolas de Wladimiroff (Nikolay Vladimiroff), an aristocrat and amateur cellist from St. Petersburg.

Fantaisie Caractéristique is in double variation form, mainly focusing on "C’est une Larme." The introduction is based on the minor-key version of this song, in D minor. A virtuosic cadenza connects the introduction to the theme. The cadenza was expanded and made more virtuosic by Ernest De Munck in a reissue by Schott in the early-1890s with a new plate number "9845 de M." The D-major theme "C’est une Larme" is followed by two variations. A tutti punctuates each variation. A statement of "Le Départ du jeune Marin" is followed by a B-flat minor variation mainly consisting of broken octaves, which likely inspired David Popper's Etude No. 38 from Hohe Schule des Violoncello-Spiels, Op. 73. The minor-key introduction returns, now in F# minor, and a final variation on "C’est une Larme" in D major completes the Fantaisie. The final variation is closely related in style to the finales of Souvenir de Spa and Grande Fantaisie sur des motifs de l’Opéra Le Barbier de Séville. The figuration at mm. 314-329 contains the same virtuosic pattern as in Fantaisie La Romantique and Le Carnaval de Venise.