| Elegies | |
|---|---|
| Solo piano pieces by Ferruccio Busoni | |
 Cover of the first edition in 1908, including a design by Busoni | |
| Catalogue | BV 249 |
| Composed | 1907 |
Elegies (German : Elegien), BV 249, by the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni is a set of solo piano pieces which can be played as a cycle or separately. Initially published in 1908 with six pieces, it was subsequently expanded to seven by the addition of the Berceuse (BV 252). [1] The set of seven takes just over 40 minutes to play. [2]
The seven pieces are titled as follows:
Although labelled as "Neue Klavierstücke" [New Piano Pieces] by the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel, that is not a totally accurate description, since three of the pieces are based on other, older compositions by the composer. No. 2 is based on the All' Italiana (4th movement) of the Piano Concerto (BV 247), although the music itself is not entirely from that movement. A particularly effective moment is based on a section of the second movement marked "in modo napolitano." Nos. 4 and 5 come from the Turandot Suite (BV 248), and were later used in the opera Turandot (BV 273). A further three pieces were also used again: No. 3 became the introductory "Preludio corale" of the Fantasia contrappuntistica (BV 256), No. 6 was used for Act I part 1 of the opera Die Brautwahl (BV 258), and No. 7 was extended into the orchestral masterpiece Berceuse élégiaque (BV 252a). [3] [4]
The Elegies mark a significant change in Busoni's compositional approach. Up to this point he had composed in the Romantic style, reaching a level of full mastery, as exemplified by the Violin Concerto (BV 243) and the Piano Concerto (BV 247). The harmonic language of the Elegies is extended, with the pedal used audaciously to blend disparate tones: unrelated triads are overlapped and juxtaposed; chords are constructed from intervals other than thirds; unusual and highly chromatic scales and runs, often differing from the surrounding harmonies, are extensively employed and varied; melodies, and solitary "sighs," moving by whole and half steps, magnify these disorienting effects. [5]
Busoni recognized the change: "My entire personal vision I put down at last and for the first time in the Elegies" [6] and "the Elegies signify a milestone in my development. Almost a transformation. Hence the title, 'nach der Wendung'." [7] Even the backward-looking pieces based on previously published works (the tarantella and neapolitan song from the Piano Concerto, and Frauengemach and Die Nächtlichen from the Turandot Suite) have been changed to reflect his new outlook. Tonality is weakened by the use of bitonality. Introductory measures, bridge passages, and transpositions have been added which incorporate this new style. [5]
With his publication of the Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music [8] in 1907 Busoni had become identified as one of the leaders of the musical avant-garde. With this, of course, came both new friends and opponents, many with rather strong feelings and opinions. "Every new composition would be avidly awaited, on the one hand by the blood-lusty opponents of the new, on the other by those eager to show themselves up-to-date." [9] Nevertheless, Busoni plunged ahead with a performance of all six pieces on 12 March 1909 at the Beethovensaal in Berlin. [9]
"Turandots Frauengemach" was well received, and to this day remains the most popular of the six. [10] Otherwise, the critics reactions were generally negative, and sometimes downright hostile. August Spamuth's review in Signale für die musikalische Welt is representative:
[Busoni] conducts, composes, agitates etc. He is one of those restless spirits who are never satisfied with what has been achieved, who can never call a halt.... He is something of a born opposer of the Establishment and when that for which he strives with all his power, a new aesthetic of music, is established and recognized, Busoni will become its irreconcilable opponent....
Busoni's six elegies were a veritable source of dismay, with the exception of the fourth, which bears the title "Turandots Frauengemach." He who knew something of Busoni's strivings for a new harmonic system and of his belief that he has already achieved new tonalities through curiously built scales, could certainly perceive a structural logic and an aesthetically ordered system of sound deployment in these pieces; but novelty seekers will have found as little "music" here as the normal, naïve listener ... No, no and no again, these were not the inspirations of a man ahead of his time, these were simply calculations.... What a weird creature, for instance, is the "waltz" entitled "Die Nächtlichen." I trust they aren't "All-Nächtlichen." [11]
Later, after more public performances, Busoni was well aware of the negative public reaction, but still clearly believed he had chosen the correct path. In a letter to Egon Petri he wrote, "Thank you for your kind words about the Elegies. On several occasions I have now found that they appear infinitely simpler to the reader than to the listener. In these pieces I am particularly proud of the form and clarity. For instance, the structure and proportions of the "Erscheinung" seem exemplary." [12]
Note: Select the catalog number link for additional recording details.
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary figures of his time, and he was a sought-after keyboard instructor and a teacher of composition.
An die Jugend(BV 254) is a sequence of pieces of classical music for solo piano by Ferruccio Busoni.
The Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni, S.697, is an operatic paraphrase for solo piano by Franz Liszt, based on themes from two different Mozart's operas: The Marriage of Figaro, K.492 and Don Giovanni, K.527.
Fantasia contrappuntistica(BV 256) is a solo piano piece composed by Ferruccio Busoni in 1910. Busoni created a number of versions of the work, including several for solo piano and one for two pianos. It has been arranged for organ and for orchestra under the composer's supervision.
The Four Pieces for Piano Op. 119, are four character pieces for piano composed by Johannes Brahms in 1893. The collection is the last composition for solo piano by Brahms. Together with the six pieces from Op. 118, Op. 119 was premiered in London in January 1894.
Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19 is a set of pieces for solo piano written by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, published in 1913 at Universal Edition in Vienna.
The Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 39 (BV 247), by Ferruccio Busoni, is one of the largest works ever written in this genre. The concerto lasts around 70 minutes and is in five movements; in the final movement a men's chorus sings words from the final scene of the verse drama Aladdin by Adam Oehlenschläger, who also wrote the words of one of the Danish national anthems.
Turandot(BV 273) is a 1917 opera with spoken dialogue and in two acts by Ferruccio Busoni. Busoni prepared his own libretto, in German, based on the play of the same name by Count Carlo Gozzi. The music for Busoni's opera is based on the incidental music, and the associated Turandot Suite, which Busoni had written in 1905 for a production of Gozzi's play. The opera is often performed as part of a double bill with Busoni's earlier one-act opera Arlecchino.
Antony Beaumont is an English and German musicologist, writer, conductor and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky, Weill, and Gurlitt. As a musicologist, he has published books on Busoni, Zemlinsky, and Mahler.
Ferruccio Busoni discography chronicles the list of releases by the music artist.
The Klavierübung, by the Italian pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni, is a compilation of piano exercises and practice pieces, comprising transcriptions of works by other composers and original compositions of his own.
The Bach-Busoni Editions are a series of publications by the Italian pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924) containing primarily piano transcriptions of keyboard music by Johann Sebastian Bach. They also include performance suggestions, practice exercises, musical analysis, an essay on the art of transcribing Bach's organ music for piano, an analysis of the fugue from Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' sonata, and other related material. The later editions also include free adaptations and original compositions by Busoni which are based on the music of Bach.
The Turandot Suite, Op. 41 is an orchestral work by Ferruccio Busoni written in 1904-5, based on Count Carlo Gozzi's play Turandot. The music – in one form or another – occupied Busoni at various times between the years 1904–17. Busoni arranged the suite from incidental music which he was composing to accompany a production of Gozzi's play. The suite was first performed on 21 October 1905, while the play with his incidental music was not produced until 1911. In August 1916 Busoni had finished composing the one-act opera Arlecchino, but it needed a companion work to provide a full evening's entertainment. He suddenly decided to transform the Turandot music into a two-act opera with spoken dialog. The two works were premiered together as a double-bill in May 1917.
Gregorio Nardi is an Italian pianist and musicologist.
Berceuse élégiaque, Op. 42 (BV 252a), is an orchestral work composed by Ferruccio Busoni in 1909. Originally written for solo piano, to be added as the seventh piece in his 1907 collection Elegies, Busoni adapted it for orchestra later the same year. This orchestral version was sub-titled "Des Mannes Wiegenlied am Sarge seiner Mutter". The first performance of Berceuse élégiaque was in New York City on February 21, 1911, and was conducted by Gustav Mahler.
Wilhelm Mayer was an Austro-Bohemian composer who published his works under the name W. A. Rémy. He was also a noted teacher, whose pupils included Ferruccio Busoni and Felix Weingartner. His name sometimes appears as Wilhelm Mayer-Rémy.
Ferruccio Busoni composed his Concerto for Piano and String Quartet in D minor, Op. 17, BV 80, in 1878, at the age of twelve. The original title was Concerto per piano-forte con accompagnamento di quartetto ad arco, Op. 17. Conceived for string quartet, the piano can also be accompanied by a string orchestra as Concerto for Piano and Strings, the title under which it was published in 1987.
| Operas |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Concertos |
| |
| Orchestral |
| |
| Piano compositions |
| |
| Piano editions and transcriptions | ||
| Keyboard students | ||
| Composition students | ||
| Related articles | ||
| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
