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Ferruccio Busoni.
Ferruccio Busoni.

Ferruccio Dante Michelangiolo Benvenuto Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, teacher of piano and composition, and conductor. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1866 ( MDCCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures

Contents

Biography

Ferruccio Busoni was born in Empoli in Tuscany, the only child of two professional musicians. Empoli is a town in Tuscany, Italy, about 30 km southwest of Florence. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 His Italian/German mother was a pianist; his Italian father was a clarinetist. The clarinet is a Musical instrument in the Woodwind family The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word They were often touring during his childhood, and he was brought up in Trieste for the most part. Trieste (Trieste Slovene and Croatian: Trst; German: Triest) is a city and port in northeastern Italy very near to

Busoni was a child prodigy. He made his public debut on the piano with his parents, at the age of seven. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers A couple of years later he played some of his own compositions in Vienna where he heard Franz Liszt play, and met Liszt, Johannes Brahms and Anton Rubinstein. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer This article is about the 19th century Russian pianist and composer

Busoni had a brief period of study in Graz with Wilhelm Mayer (who used the pseudonym of W. Graz (etymologically from Slovene: Gradec IPA /gradeʦ/ "little castle" with a population of around 290000 as of 2008 (of which 252852 have principal A. Rémy and also taught Felix Weingartner) and was also helped by Wilhelm Kienzl, who enabled him to conduct a performance of his own composition 'Stabat Mater' when he was twelve years old, before leaving for Leipzig in 1886. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Paul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg Wilhelm Kienzl ( 17 January, 1857 &ndash 19 October, 1941) was an Austrian Opera Composer. This sort of fix restores section edit linkpoints to where they belong He subsequently held several teaching posts, the first in 1888 at Helsinki, where he met his wife, Gerda Sjöstrand, the daughter of Swedish sculptor Carl Eneas Sjöstrand, and began a lifelong friendship with Sibelius. Helsinki (in Finnish;) or Helsingfors (in Swedish;) is the Capital and largest city of Finland. Carl Eneas Sjöstrand ( September 11, 1828 - February 14, 1906) was a Swedish Sculptor. In 1890 he won the Anton Rubinstein Competition with his Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra, Op. The original Anton Rubinstein Competition was staged by Rubinstein himself every five years from 1890 to 1910. 31a. He taught in Moscow in 1890, and in the United States from 1891 to 1894 where he also toured as a virtuoso pianist. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

In 1894 he settled in Berlin, giving a series of concerts there both as pianist and conductor. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. He particularly promoted contemporary music. In the broadest and popular sense Contemporary music is any music being written in the present day He also continued to teach in a number of masterclasses at Weimar, Vienna and Basel, among his pupils being Egon Petri. Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. "Basilia" redirects here For the Fly Genus, see Basilia (fly. Egon Petri ( March 23, 1881 - May 27, 1962) was a classical Pianist. His piano playing and philosophy of music influenced Claudio Arrau. Claudio Arrau León ( February 6, 1903 &ndash June 9, 1991) was a Chilean Pianist of world fame for his deep interpretations

In 1907, he penned his Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music, lamenting the traditional music "lawgivers", and predicting a future music that included the division of the octave into more than the traditional 12 degrees. His philosophy that "Music was born free; and to win freedom is its destiny," greatly influenced his students Luigi Russolo, Percy Grainger and Edgard Varèse, all of whom played significant roles in the 20th century opening of music to all sound. Luigi Russolo ( April 30, 1885 - February 4, 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter and Composer, and the author of George Percy Grainger (8 July 1882&ndash20 February 1961 was an Australian born Composer, Pianist and champion of the Saxophone and the WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse

During World War I, Busoni lived first in Bologna, where he directed the conservatory, and later in Zürich. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the He refused to perform in any countries that were involved in the war. He returned to Berlin in 1920 where he gave master classes in composition. He had several composition pupils who went on to become famous, including Kurt Weill, Edgard Varèse and Stefan Wolpe. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Kurt Julian Weill ( March 2, 1900 &ndash April 3, WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse Stefan Wolpe ( August 25, 1902 &ndash April 4, 1972) was a German -born Composer.

Busoni died in Berlin from a kidney disease. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. The kidneys are complicated organs that have numerous biological roles He was interred in the Städtischen Friedhof III, Berlin-Schöneberg, Stubenrauchstraße 43-45. Städtischer Friedhof III is a Cemetery in the Friedenau district of the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Schöneberg is a locality of Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. He left a few recordings of his playing as well as a number of piano rolls. A piano roll is the music Storage medium used to operate the Player piano, pianola or a Reproducing piano. His compositions were largely neglected for many years after his death, but he was remembered as a great virtuoso and arranger of Bach for the piano. Around the 1980s there was a revival of interest in his work.

He is commemorated by a plaque at the site of his last residence in Berlin-Schöneberg, Viktoria-Luise-Platz 11, and by the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition. Viktoria-Luise-Platz is an oval on Motzstraße in Schöneberg, Berlin.

Music

Ferruccio Busoni.
Ferruccio Busoni.

The majority of Busoni's works are for the piano. Busoni's music is typically contrapuntally complex, with several melodic lines unwinding at once. In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony In Music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing chanting" also tune, voice, or Although his music is never entirely atonal in the Schoenbergian sense, his later works are often in indeterminate key. Atonality in its broadest sense describes Music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Schoenberg (beautiful mountain is the surname of several persons In Music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways He was in contact with Schoenberg, and made a 'concert interpretation' of the latter's 'atonal' Piano Piece op. 11 no. 2 in 1910. In the program notes for the premiere of his own Sonatina seconda of 1912, Busoni calls the work senza tonalità (without tonality). Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Liszt are often identified as key influences, though some of his music has a neo-classical bent, and includes melodies resembling Mozart's. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" Neoclassicism in music was a 20th century development particularly popular in the period between the two World Wars in which composers drew inspiration from music of the 18th century

Some idea of Busoni's mature attitude to composition can be gained from his 1907 manifesto, Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music, a publication somewhat controversial in its time. As well as discussing then little-explored areas such as electronic music and microtonal music (both techniques he never employed), he asserted that music should distill the essence of music of the past to make something new. Electronic music is music that employs Electronic musical instruments and Electronic Music technology in its production Microtonal music is Music using microtones — intervals of less than an equally spaced Semitone.

Many of Busoni's works are based on music of the past, especially on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" He arranged several of Bach's works for the piano, including the famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (originally for organ) and the chaconne from the D minor violin partita. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each In Music, a chaconne (ʃaˈkɔn Italian: ciaccona) is a Musical form whose primary formal feature involves variation on a repeated Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin ( BWV 1001&ndash1006 form a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach: three sonatas in four movements Earlier Brahms had also made a transcription of the same chaconne, but for left hand only. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Thus some consider him an originator of neoclassicism in music. Neoclassicism in music was a 20th century development particularly popular in the period between the two World Wars in which composers drew inspiration from music of the 18th century Busoni went on to transcribe other composers works as well. An archetypal example would be his piano arrangement of Franz Liszt's Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam. The Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos ad salutarem undam, S

The first version of Busoni's largest and best known solo piano work, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, was published in 1910. Fantasia Contrappuntistica is a solo piano piece composed by Ferruccio Busoni. About half an hour in length, it is essentially an extended fantasy on the final incomplete fugue from Bach's The Art of Fugue. The Art of Fugue or The Art of the Fugue (original German Die Kunst der Fuge) BWV 1080 is an incomplete masterpiece It uses several melodic figures found in Bach's work, most notably the BACH motif (B flat, A, C, B natural). In Music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat A C B natural. Busoni revised the work a number of times and arranged it for two pianos. Versions have also been made for organ and for orchestra. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each

Busoni used elements of other composers' works. The fourth movement of An die Jugend (1909), for instance, uses two of Niccolò Paganini's Caprices for solo violin (numbers 11 and 15), while the 1920 piece Piano Sonatina No. An die Jugend is a piece of classical music for solo Piano by Ferruccio Busoni. Niccolò Paganini ( October 27, 1782 &ndash 6 (Fantasia da camera super Carmen) is based on themes from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. Georges Bizet (25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875 was a French Composer and Pianist of the Romantic era Carmen is a French Opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The Libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based

Busoni also drew inspiration from non-European sources, including Indian Fantasy for piano and orchestra. The Indian Fantasy (Indianische Fantasie is a fantasy for Piano and Orchestra by Ferruccio Busoni. It was composed in 1913 and is based on North American indigenous tribal melodies drawn from the studies of this native music by ethnomusicologist, Natalie Curtis Burlin. This article is about the concept For the society and academic journal see Society for Ethnomusicology. Natalie Curtis (also cited by her married name Natalie Curtis Burlin) (born April 26, 1875, in New York City -died October 23,

Busoni was a virtuoso pianist, and his works for piano are difficult to perform. The Piano Concerto op.39 (1904) is probably the largest such work ever written. The Piano Concerto in C major by Ferruccio Busoni, Opus 39 is one of the largest works written in this particular genre Performances generally last over seventy minutes, requiring great stamina from the soloist. The concerto is written for a large orchestra with a male voice choir that is hidden from the audience's view in the last movement. For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers British pianist John Ogdon, one of the champions of the work, called it "the longest and grandest piano concerto of all. John Andrew Howard Ogdon ( January 27 1937 &ndash August 1 1989) was an English Pianist and Composer. "[1]

Busoni's suite for orchestra Turandot (1904), probably his most popular orchestral work, was expanded into his opera Turandot in 1917, and Busoni completed two other operas, Die Brautwahl (1911) and Arlecchino (1917). Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Turandot is a 1917 opera by Ferruccio Busoni, based on an earlier (1904/5 op Die Brautwahl ( The Bridal Choice) is a "comic-fantastic" Opera in three acts and an epilogue by Ferruccio Busoni. Arlecchino oder Die Fenster ( Harlequin or The Windows) is an Opera by Ferruccio Busoni, with the Libretto in German He began serious work on his best known opera, Doktor Faust, in 1916, leaving it incomplete at his death. Doktor Faust is an Opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a Libretto by the composer himself based on the myth of Faust. It was then finished by his student Philipp Jarnach, who worked with Busoni's sketches as he knew of them, but in the 1980s Anthony Beaumont, the author of an important Busoni biography, created an expanded and improved completion by drawing on material that Jarnach did not have access to. Philipp Jarnach (b July 26, 1892, Noisy-le-Sec; d December 17, 1982, Börnsen) was considered in the 1920s to be one

Aesthetics

Busoni's music can be considered in the context of his three major aesthetic beliefs: essence, oneness and junge Klassizität (literally 'young classicism'). Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called The essence of music suggests that music is free from any prescriptive labels; in other words, it is absolute. For example, Busoni asked us to question just what it was in a piece of instrumental church music, that was inherently 'church'. The oneness of music proposes that music is free from prescriptive devices, and that there are endless possibilities of composition. Finally, in his words, junge Klassizität (often mistaken for neo-classicism) included 'the mastery, the sifting and the turning to account of all the gains of previous experiments and their inclusion in strong and beautiful forms' (Busoni, 'Letter to Paul Bekker', 1920).

His music falls in that most fractious of periods, the fin de siècle, where chromatic elements became part of the structure of the music, rather than being decoration. By studying Busoni's aesthetic beliefs we can suggest that his music is metatonal - given that he sought to include the old with the new to create limitless compositions. This is not to suggest that his music is without form (a mistake that Pfitzner made when he attacked The Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music by Busoni), nor is it without any sense of tonality (a common mistake when one finds oneself between Classical and Serial music). WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Hans Erich Pfitzner ( May 5, 1869 &ndash May 22, This grey area of music history is more engaging because the traditional forms and pitch structures have taken a side road, a road that did not ultimately lead to serialism.

In order to understand Busoni's compositions one should take only what is given in the music, and interpret them through his aesthetic beliefs (though this is no easy task, and the everpresent binarism between what a composer says and what a composer does should be kept in mind). Busoni can be recognised as a man with a variety of musical abilities. He wrote compositions and libretti, performed as a concert pianist, transcribed pieces by other composers (such as Bach, Mozart and Liszt), taught master classes, and produced aesthetic writings. It is to this end that Busoni considered music a fusion of disciplines, or to use his words 'to recognise the whole phenomenon of music as 'oneness'. (Busoni, 'The Essence of Oneness of Music', 1921).

Editions

Busoni also edited music by other composers. The best known of these is his edition of the complete Bach solo keyboard works, which he edited with the assistance of his students Egon Petri and Bruno Mugellini. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" Egon Petri ( March 23, 1881 - May 27, 1962) was a classical Pianist. He adds tempo markings, articulation and phrase markings, dynamics and metronome markings to the original Bach, as well as extensive performance suggestions. In the Goldberg Variations, for example, he suggests cutting eight of the variations for a "concert performance", as well as substantially rewriting many sections. The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 are a set of 30 variations for Harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. The edition remains controversial, but has recently been reprinted. Its world premiere recording was by Sara Davis Buechner (aka David Buechner). Sara Davis Buechner (born David Buechner, 1959 is an American Concert pianist and Educator.

On a smaller scale, Busoni edited works by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Liszt, Schoenberg and Schumann. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Arnold Schoenberg ( pronounced ˈʃøːnbɛrk (13 September 1874 &ndash 13 July 1951 was an Austrian and later American Composer, associated with Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann (June 8 1810 &ndash July 29 1856 was a German Composer, Aesthete and influential Music critic The Busoni version of Liszt's La Campanella was championed by pianists such as Ignaz Friedman and Josef Lhevinne, and more recently by John Ogdon. La Campanella ("The Handbell" or "The Little Bell" is a Piano Etude, also known as a study piece written by Virtuoso pianist Ignaz Friedman (also spelled Ignace or Ignacy) ( February 14 1882 &ndash January 26 1948) was a Polish Josef Lhévinne ( 13 December 1874 &ndash 2 December 1944) was a Russian Pianist and piano teacher John Andrew Howard Ogdon ( January 27 1937 &ndash August 1 1989) was an English Pianist and Composer.

Recordings

Busoni made a considerable number of piano rolls, and a small number of these have been re-recorded onto vinyl record or CD. A piano roll is the music Storage medium used to operate the Player piano, pianola or a Reproducing piano. A gramophone A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio His recorded output on gramophone record is much smaller and rarer - unfortunately many were destroyed when the Columbia factory burnt down. A gramophone Originally, he had recorded a considerable number, including Liszt's Sonata in B minor and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata. The following pieces (recorded for Columbia) survive from February 1922:

Busoni also mentions recording the Gounod-Liszt Faust Waltz in a letter to his wife in 1919. However, this recording was never released. Unfortunately for posterity, Busoni never recorded his original works.

The value of these recordings in ascertaining Busoni's performance style is a matter of some dispute. Many of his colleagues and students expressed disappointment with the recordings and felt they did not truly represent Busoni's pianism. His student Egon Petri was horrified by the piano roll recordings when they first appeared on LP and said that it was a travesty of Busoni's playing. Egon Petri ( March 23, 1881 - May 27, 1962) was a classical Pianist. Similarly, Petri's student Gunnar Johansen who had heard Busoni play on several occasions, remarked, "Of Busoni's piano rolls and recordings, only Feux follets (Liszt's 5th Transcendental Etude) is really something unique. Gunnar Johansen, Danish born pianist and composer (1906 – 1991 The rest is curiously unconvincing. The recordings, especially of Chopin, are a plain misalliance". However, Kaikhosru Sorabji, a fervent admirer, found the records to be the best piano recordings ever made when they were released. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji ( August 14, 1892 &ndash October 15, 1988) was a British Parsi Composer, music journalist

See also

Media

All the media files below are transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni (Fantasie über Themen aus den Opern von Wolfgang Amadues Mozart Die Hochzeit Des Figaro und Don Giovanni WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise"

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Ates Orga, Volume 72 of Philips' Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century series (set I on John Ogdon)

External links

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a Digital audio encoding format using a form of Lossy data compression The International Music Score Library Project ( IMSLP) is a project for the creation of a virtual library of Public domain music scores, based on the The German National Library ( Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, abbreviated DNB) was established in 1990 during the German reunification by merging the Deutsche
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