Ferruccio Busoni – The Six : An Artist’s Journey 1909-1920 – his language and his world

Jeni Slotchiver

Part I of an in-depth appreciation of these greatly significant works The summer’s accomplishments also inc- lude several transcriptions of Bach’s he Six Sonatinas, written between 1910 ado Springs: “No year in my life has been and a musical comedy Tand 1921, are Busoni’s finest and most so full up as this one which is just over: libretto titled Frau Potiphar. In addition, compelling collection of composit ions. the richest in work, experiences and Busoni writes his explorative treatise, Although they are not programmatic in achieve ments – and I feel that I am still Attempt at an Organic Notation for the any aspect, the set tells a cohesive story going upwards. Everything good, my Pianoforte, and prepares new material for of an artist’s journey. These are deeply Gerda, is with us.” The date is 1 April, an anticipated second edition of his personal, quasi-autobiographical comp os- 1910, and the marks his 44th Outline of a New Aesthetic of Music. He itions: each serves as chronicle, birthday surveying a year of fertile and begins orchestration on his important and marks a gathering and culmination of extravagant artistic discovery. , and in July, com- Busoni’s spiritual searchings and growth. In December 1908, Busoni composes pletes Act 1 part 1. Fluid and timeless, the Sonatinas also the sparkling miniature for piano, Nuit de The élégiaque is inscribed in encompass Busoni’s temporal world. Noël, as a musical offering to the New memory of Anna Busoni, and Fantasia Beginnings and departures are marked. Year. He often acknowledges Christmases, nach is comp- They are a diary of contentment, of agg- New Years, and other important dates osed for Ferdinando Busoni. Both parents ressive experimentation, of the war and with musical works. Nuit de Noël is a died a few months apart in 1909, and chaos, and peace and reconciliation. The masterpiece of colour and style, an ausp- these pieces are personal eulogies, Sonatinas are contemplative works, and icious beginning for the New Year. After musical gestures of bereavement and although all end softly, they are unres - completing his concert tours in 1909, mourning. The remaining compositions ervedly expressive, with abundant Busoni begins one of his most prolific and are dedicated to the young generation of contrasts and highly developed intense periods of artistic achievement. . instrumen tal writing. From June until October 1909, his Sonatina, 1910, is born from An die The Sonatinas are also efforts appear impossible: Jungen. The composer, Bernard van premonitory; they fore- Berceuse, for piano. June 1909 Dieren, offers to clarify the misleading title, tell Busoni’s orch- Fantasia nach Johann Sebastian . He writes, “Busoni inten - estral and operatic Bach, for piano. June 1909 ded them as visionary sketches of aspects language as it exp- Preludietto, Fughetta ed Esercizio which, in his belief, music was to assume ands, evolves, and Book 1 An die Jugend, for piano. and dedicated them to Youth which crystalizes. June 1909 would see the full Busoni writes to Preludio, Fuga e Fuga figurata growth. On Youth his wife, Gerda, Book 2 An die Jugend, for piano. July all his hopes from Color - 1909 centered.” Van Giga, Bolero e Variazione Book 3 An die Dieren Jugend, for piano. July 1909 adroitly Concertante transcription of con- Schoenberg’s Klavierstück, op. 11 no. cludes:

2. July 1909 ▼ Introduzione e Capriccio (Paganinesco) & Epilogo Book 4 An die Jugend, for piano. August 1909 Berceuse élégiaque, for . October 1909

MUSICAL OPINION QUARTERLY JULY-SEPTEMBER 2015 25 “He did not resist the Composing only Jugend has lighthearted Mozart’s peculiar rhythms and temptation to leave connotations, the mature further afield in a celebration of ‘free possibilities of confusion. It deserves the name composer is on consec - tonality’. points to a didactic strain rated ground, with Bach, In his essay, Value of the Transcription, in his mind which avoided when it busies itself Mozart, and Liszt stand- 1910, Busoni discusses the borrowing, the danger of pedantry by ing guard. quoting and passing on of musical themes. an impish sense of ever with new The four books are a He asks, “But where does the transcription humour, and by a rom- devotional collage of the begin?” Busoni examines two of Liszt’s antic delight in erudite, problems… composer’s love of form, compositions, Spanish Rhapsody, and poetic complex it ies.” Busoni and polyphonic explorat - Great Fantasy on Spanish Airs. They share explains the title to Schoen - ions, or ‘free polyphony’. The the same themes, and Busoni poses the berg in 1909, An die Jugend is intended volumes contain his original music, as well question, “Which of them is the trans- to signify that the publications are as transcribed material. Musical puzzle- cription? The one which was written later? conceived for the new generation,” and as games of dazzling complexity are But is not the first one already an with his , Busoni dedicates the interspersed with creative gest ures, of a Spanish folk-song? That pieces to promising young musicians: acknowledging the great masters. Spanish Fantasy commences with a Josef Turczinski, Louis Theodor Gruenberg, References to various compositions sugg- theme which tallies with the dance motive , Louis Closson, and Emile R. est musical and philosophical subtexts. in Mozart’s Figaro and Mozart took this Blanchet. Busoni writes, in his forward to ‘Free polyphony’ reigns as unrelated and from someone else too. It is not his, it is An die Jugend: “My love belongs to the related themes combine contrapuntally transcribed. Moreover the same theme young and shall always belong to them. with breathtaking facility. Uncanny harm- appears again in Gluck’s ballet Don Juan.” Their impossible plans, their open-minded onies are an important side effect of these After more investigations, he reveals, “We questions, disarming criticisms, defiant explorations. have been able to bring the motive contradictions and fast-beating hearts … The pieces in An die Jugend have a material of both Spanish Fantasies by Liszt Very fine, but unf ortun ately optimistic. complex and cohesive relationship. For in conjunction with the names of Mozart, Youth is mostly con serv ative and its prom - instance, Book 2 is an exercise based on Gluck, Corelli, Glinka, Mahler. My humble ise is often deceptive … the ‘best’ stand the D major Prelude and Fugue from name too, is now added.” An die Jugend alone in every generation.” Busoni speaks Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier, Book 1. is the realisation of Busoni’s ‘Eternal as both the eternal optimist and the worldly Busoni writes, in his edition of the 48 Calendar of Music’, and by extending the cynic. The opposing forces of , the Preludes and Fugues: “The thematic relat- musical language of Bach and Mozart, he seeker of knowledge, and Mephistoph- ions between the Prelude and Fugue are furthers ‘free polyphony’ and ‘free tonality’. eles, the incessant doubter, become more closer than may generally be assumed; notes an entry in pron ounced as the composer matures. their common harmonic basis would Busoni’s diary, 5 October, 1909, “An die This duality forged opportunistic energy render it possible to superimpose the one Jugend! The source of the palimpsest.” and balance, giving shape to his piece on the other.” The Fuga figurata, a Busoni often references Thomas De and mature works. contrapuntal combination of both the Quincey’s Suspira de Profundis. An essay Busoni writes, “Composing only des- Prelude and Fugue, is proof of his con- from this collection, The Palimpsest of the erves the name when it busies itself ever cept. Although slight modifications occur, Human Brain, is a meditation on con- with new problems.” He hopes a new the work is not a technical prank, it is sciousness and memory. De Quincey generation will further explore and Busoni’s concrete demonstration in the explains the term Palimpsest: “Hence it develop the musical aspects he foresees underlying unity of Bach’s music. Another arose in the middle ages, as a consid - as significant in the development of 20th example is in Book 3, the ‘Mozart’ volume erable object for chemistry, to discharge century music. Busoni is forever Janus- of An die Jugend. Busoni freely transcribes the writing from the roll, and thus to make faced, and the gift for future generations Mozart’s Kleine Gigue, K574. The hist - it available for a new succession of is also homage and memorial to gen er- orian Alfred Einstein relates that Mozart thoughts. The Greek tragedy, the monkish ations past. Early on, Ferdinando Busoni was in in 1789 and legend, the knightly romance, introduces his wonder child to Bach, and inscribed this brilliant 3-voice each has ruled its own during adolescence, Busoni completes a gigue in the Court Organist period.” Readings of ob- 15-month course of study with his only Engel’s notebook as a scured texts were made formal composition teacher, Wilhelm creative homage to Bach. Busoni is the time possible by chemists in Mayer-Rémy. This teacher fortifies an In the same volume, the early 1800s. De already marvellous gift of counterpoint, Busoni follows Gigue with traveller, unearthing Quincey comments, and instills the 14-year-old with a lifelong Bolero, drawn from Act lll “They are not dead, but dedication to Mozart. As Busoni grows, he of Mozart’s Le Nozze di past treasures, sleeping ... the Grecian initiates himself into the world of Liszt, Figaro. Busoni transposes, revealing hidden tragedy had seemed to gaining complete mastery over his transcribes, and re-visions be displaced, but was not technique. Ultimately, this discovery of Mozart’s fandango as a mysteries, and displaced, by the Liszt serves as a primary model for his piano compos ition. The monkish legend; and the piano writing. Although the title An die Variazione pushes teaching their value. monkish legend had

26 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2015 MUSICAL OPINION QUARTERLY seemed to be displac ed, but was not displaced, by the knightly romance.” He examines the phenomenon whereby unrelated texts inter mingle, invade and compete. He poses the paradox: “What would you think, fair reader, of a problem such as this — to write a book which should be sense for your own generation, nonsense for the next, should revive into sense for the next after that, but again become nonsense for the fourth; and so on by alternate successions, sinking into night or blazing into day...But really it is a problem not harder apparently than to bid a generation kill, but so that a subsequent generation may call back into life; bury, but so that posterity may command to rise again.” De Quincey links the palimpsest to human memory and consciousness: “What else than a natural and mighty palimpsest is the human brain …Ever- lasting layers of ideas, images, feelings, have fallen upon your brain softly as light. Each succession has seemed to bury all that went before. And yet, in reality, not one has been extinguished.” These texts align with Busoni’s aesthetics, and in 1916, Carl Jung will define his theory of the ‘Coll ective Unconscious’, evoking De Quincey’s writings, as well as Busoni’s ‘Eternal Calendar of Music’. Musical refer - ences in the An die Jugend volumes existed throughout the ages, simultan- eously credited or linked to composers from many different generations. Busoni is the time traveller, unearthing past treasures, revealing hidden mysteries, and Fluid and timeless, teaching their value. By extending the language, he becomes a beginner, adding the Sonatinas also another dimension to the parchment, and passing the torch forward. encompass Busoni’s In 1910, at the time Busoni posts the letter to Gerda, he is touring America. temporal world. Seeds for the and Red Indian Diary are planted, the Grosse Fuga is complete and the Fantasia Contra- puntistica will be finished within a few ing. The general assumption connotes would be a journeyman, an explorer and months. He lists tours of England, works of diminutive form; ‘Sonatina’ artist. In his unrelenting push for growth Switzerland and Austria along with his usually describes ‘studies’ for young and discovery, he questions as a way of American tour, where he performs 35 musicians, or small scale Sonatas. With life. Busoni has a personal horror of look- times. In August of that year, he reworks these youthful implications, it is easy to ing back and thrills to imagine himself a sections of An die Jugend to form his first comprehend the humorous, yet meaning - novice. A critic, writing for Musical America Sonatina. ful segue, from An die Jugend to in 1910, understands Busoni’s meaning: The Six Sonatinas are Busoni’s greatest Sonatina. “Certainly this description has not been series of compositions and contain his Busoni does not intend to confuse or selected without real justification, but very personnel and uniquely identifiable alienate amateurs and students with a probably also not without a slightly ironical voice. This title, however, creates con fus- misleading title; selling music is already undercurrent of thought. A ‘Sonatina’

ion and a predilection for misunderstand - challenging. Allegorically, a beginner means a piece for beginners, and in ▼

MUSICAL OPINION QUARTERLY JULY-SEPTEMBER 2015 27 this Sonatina, the comp- His refined chiselling treble, evokes a pulse: build upon your ancestral foundations. oser may have regarded two repeating tones The Allegretto elegante rises from the himself as the beginner or of the larger work follow in diminuendo, final, resonating C major chord of the founder of a new system while the left hand . The right hand is in 4, the left of harmonies.” produces a keeps a gentle, flowing hand is quasi-Valse 3 metre. The right Busoni writes, “The pace with a two-note hand explores the whole-tone scale, the Sonatina is merely a re- sensational slur — the pulse of an left hand stays rooted to defined key working of the Preludietto, artist walking serenely centres, all the while transforming the Fughetta, Esercizio and . through his world, quietly colour and direction of the right hand. The Epilogo from An die Jugend, observing, commenting fughetta subject remains in the middle organically condensed. Perhaps and taking stock. A harmonic voice, rhythmically and harmonically freed the maturest of my piano pieces.” journey is undertaken. Many of Busoni’s from the outer voices. The Lisztian Throughout the composer’s life, he is interesting scale patterns are planted figurations are marvellously designed. The compelled to revisit and search particular beneath the theme and shimmer below Allegretto elegante is marked leggiero material until finally, its creative potential the surface. The simple melodic material throughout, even when forte, and is depleted. Sonatina is from Books 1 and and supple accompaniment are perfect presents an exhilarating invention of the 4 of An die Jugend and is all thematically foils for a calm but deliberate stroll off the waltz. This style of scherzo-waltz is one of related. Although Busoni never program - well-worn path. Secure ground begins to Busoni’s trademarks. The printed music mes all four Books, he performs Sonatina. shift. There is a restlessness beneath the appears sparse, yet these spectral waltzes His refined chiselling of the larger work heartbeat. After a climax incorporates and are never straightforward. Some examples produces a sensational concert piece. pre-states the fughetta subject, the pulse of his fantastical original waltzes are the Busoni gives the first performance at the sounds alone with pedal, suspending and fleeting Die Nächtlichen (the ghost waltz Musikhochschule, Basle, on 30 Sept - extending the contemplative atmosphere. from the Elegies) and the early op.20, ember, 1910. Dedicated to Rudolf Ganz, In the fughetta Più tranquillo, the sub- op.30a and op.33a. Other undiscovered Sonatina has striking economy of form ject is plainly stated, intimate and un- miniature jewels can be found among the and succinct use of thematic material. sentimental. As Busoni explores familiar short pieces of Busoni’s Klavierübung. Every note is vital. As with many Busoni territory, traditional recedes The Allegretto elegante is homage to compositions, a listener experiences a when small chromatic scales in 4-note Chopin, but the debt to Liszt is un- journey; questions and solutions are groupings enter. Patterns of shifting questionable. Busoni’s waltzes are the worked out from the end backward. With whole-tone and half-tone combinations, children of Liszt’s Forgotten Waltzes as the final move in mind, the grand master extending to broken major and minor well as Mephisto. They are certainly the solves a chess game. Busoni masterfully thirds, crawl under and above the subject. predecessors of Ravel’s La Valse. secretes his methods of thematic trans - The music leaves sure-footed earth bound In the final section, the theme returns formation. Gestures lead in deceptively harmony with dizzying embroidery and briefly, followed by the Epilogo from An effortless fashion towards a transfigurat - certain flight. The fughetta theme remains die Jugend. Here the composer speaks ion. A stunning improvisatory language a cantus firmus, the voice of reason. entirely in his own language. The fughetta rises out of a carefully articulated journey. Foundation combines with flight, and the subject is present, lyrical and intact, even Busoni never subjugates form and lyrical two elements of earth and air are as Busoni opens the gate to his secret beauty; yet, he is not pouring ‘old wine magically blended. The section ends with subterranean world. Colours, pedalling into new bottles’. The Sonatina integrates a sumptuous small recalling the effects, and harmonies entice the listener a complex harmonic language, derived improvisatory finale of an ornamental into a realm of magic. The alchemist spins from Busoni’s ‘free polyphony’. This is his Baroque cadenza, passages Busoni cher- the whole-tone scale, spilling a trace of style being spun. It is not abstract ish ed. In an autobiographical moment, the liquid silver, trills float disembodied, and expressionism, impressionism, , fughetta subject returns chorale-like, glistening modulations stretch and pull. or post-Wagnerianism. sonorously chiming an unambiguous, With each statement of the theme, he Sonatina is in one-movement form, traditional cadence. shows a different path – wonders await. with five sections. The opening is marked This transitional cadence into the third Throughout, bell-tones echo C major. Semplice, commovente. A fughetta follows, section is Busoni’s prayerful acknowled- Born within this framework, Busoni Più tranquillo, and the third section is gment following intense explorations. He defines his creativity and imagination. In Allegretto elegante. The fourth section, respectfully nods to past Masters, tips his the closing moments of Sonatina, the marked Teneramente, come da principio, hat, and salutes the key of C major. The noble simplicity of a cadence acts as has a brief return and disintegration of the beginners’ key accentuates how far he reminder that past and future are one. opening theme. This leads to a mystical has traveled and serves to remind Busoni posts a letter to his wife from and unearthly section, the complete younger generations that much discovery Dayton, Ohio, on 3 March, 1910. He Epilogo from An die Jugend. remains. His first Elegy, Nach der Wend- encloses his essay, The Realm of Music, Although the initial melodic material is ung, symbolically begins in C and spins a intended as an epilogue to Outline of a marked semplice, the punctilious phrase mystical and spiritual harmonic journey New Aesthetic of Music. The essay is markings and ensuing harmonic improvis - outward. Similarly, the Sonatina returns to undoubtedly a companion piece for Son- ations are not easy. The theme, in the C major, his mantra for other explorers: atina. “Come, follow me into the realm of

28 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2015 MUSICAL OPINION QUARTERLY music. Here is the iron fence which The music is written in a virtuosic style: has already begun to write about his separates the earthly from the eternal… demanding, volatile and liquid rich. The meta physical concept of the ‘omni- Here there is no end to the astonishment, visual score is splendid, the aural is revel- presence of Time’. In Sonatina seconda, and yet from the beginning we feel it is atory, and the markings, Lento occulto, Busoni’s supernatural obsessions find homelike … Unthought-of scales extend flebile and lamentoso, beckon from their truest expressions as an extension of like bands from one world to another… another dimension. his artistic quest for perfection and Now you realise how planets and hearts The first performance has Busoni as fulfillment. The forces of good and evil, are one, that nowhere can there be an soloist at the Verdi Conservatoire in Milan, Mozart’s Magic Flute and the ‘Trial by Fire end or an obstacle; that infinity lives on 12 May, 1913. His programme notes and Water’, better exemplify his marking completely and indivisibly in the spirit of describe the piece as ‘senza tonalità’. The occulto. He is searching for the ideal all beings.” opening is a single line stretching two mythical-mystical protagonist that will be Busoni writes to Gerda, March 1911, octaves, a free-tone row. Schoenberg, the his voice. This quest begins many years “I think with serious joy of the journey Futurist movement, and Busoni’s personal before Sonatina seconda. home and I have the feeling that my most conjuring of his ultimate autobiographical Busoni endlessly deliberates the choice important period is beginning and that it hero, are varying influences. Busoni’s of his protagonist before settling on Dr. is, I suppose, the definitive one. The joy is relationship with Schoenberg, who returns Faust. He is fascinated with puppet plays not less because it is serious; on the to Berlin in the autumn of 1911, is and loves the ambiguity of beings that contrary, it is deeper. It is deep and beaut- recorded in hundreds of letters. For a possess both human and superhuman iful, but it has lost all its youthfulness, like time, they share rule of the Berlin avant- characteristics. Early on, is exp- Rembrandt’s later self-portraits.” garde and cautiously admire each other. lored, and he also considers the mythical Sonatina seconda, dedicated to the Their letters tell a captivating story of two magician Merlin as subject for a musical , is composed in artistic giants. While attempting to work. When Busoni is a young man, Carl the summer of 1912, and heralds a understand each other, the relationship is Goldmark’s opera Merlin is premiered. period of energetic experimentation. For riddled with apprehension, mutual respect Busoni writes a piano fantasy on themes the 46-year-old composer, this signals the and a general philosophical agreement from the opera and is hired to produce end of a nearly two year compositional notwithstanding. The futurist movement is the vocal score. Busoni often incorporates silence. A period of rigorous concert tours also reaching a broad audience at this a variant on melodic material from Gold- allows him time to complete his opera time. Busoni shows mild interest, but mark’s opera as a motif. This motto Die Brautwahl. He debates a form for the remains wary of any movement pros- becomes a personal musical signature in Indian melodies, reads voraciously, and elytising an absolute manifesto. He writes, many of his compositions. The Magicians- anticipates his future path after the “Unfortunately I can see that these people Alchemists Leonhard and Manasse duel dynamic explorations of 1909 and 1910. are already becoming old-fashioned.” as opposing forces of good and evil in The first Sonatina is lyrical and trans- Sonatina seconda is published at a Busoni’s musical comedy opera, Die parent, sensual in its flowing lines. By time when séances are in fashion and Brautwahl. Leonardo and Dante are deb- com p arison, Sonatina seconda is a pow- occultism is a popular topic. Busoni is an ated in a search for a truly Italian opera. erful, kinetic work. The contrast of light to extremely charismatic, larger-than-life virt- Mephistopheles, the Wandering Jew, Don dark is also useful here. Sonatina seconda u oso, surrounded by an aura of mystery. Juan, and appear, as he is a tour de force, decidedly experimental As with Paganini and Liszt, he attracts tries to grasp the essence of these beings. for its time. This composition contains fantastical tales. He is, in most ways, a His library holds beautiful rare books and much of what is new and rarely tried, in a practical man, although his artistic and prints depicting the superhuman myth- compelling form. Generations remain spiritual temperament leaves him sensit - ological beings. Who best embodies the captivated by its spell, and the piece is a ive to nightmares and emotionally sugg - opposing forces of good and evil, and is treasured masterwork for instrumentalists estive. The walking dead and gypsy-robed consumed with the struggle for their soul? and composers. Known commonly as ‘the conjurers are not the characters Busoni Who personifies the crusade for truth, occult’, the word appears for the first time gravitates towards. His creativity, and wisdom, while in in a Busoni score, the composer later letters, diaries and danger of dissolution, admits the piano piece is a Dr Faust study. are a truer measure of falsification and failure? These Sonatina seconda enters the senses as the man than the Generations remain are the supernatural forces tableau in contemplation of worlds myths built around that enter the arena with beyond our own. him. A list of his captivated by its Sonatina seconda. Ten years The printed page forcefully announces favorite authors will after publication, Busoni daring changes within the composer. include, Edgar Allen spell, and the piece acknowledges that this is his There is no key signature or time signat - Poe, H. G. Wells, E.T.A. first published study for Dr. ure. A postscript at the bottom of the first Hoffmann, Cervantes, is a treasured Faust. In 1912, with years of page instructs the interpreter that accid - and De Quincey. He masterwork for searching behind him, Son- entals apply only once, natural signs believes, under special atina seconda is conjuring (cancellations of sharps and flats) never circumstances, instrumentalists and the soul of his hero, and occur. Bar lines are used rarely and serve telepathy and clairvoy - serves as an incantation for

to mark the ends of phrases or sections. ance might occur, and composers. the process to begin. ▼

MUSICAL OPINION QUARTERLY JULY-SEPTEMBER 2015 29 By 1912, this His father sits beside him and scrutinises every finger and note for hours; the only powerful artist break is an explosive temper, which Bus- oni describes as, “violent in the extreme. dominates the A box on the ears would be followed by copious tears, accompanied by reproaches, Berlin avant-garde threats and terrifying prophesies.” Anton Rubenstein’s testimonial for Ferruccio is a and his circle of blunt letter of advice to Ferdinando, students written in 1878 while the family was in : “The young has surrounds him. a very remarkable talent both for perf orm- ance and for composition. In my opinion he ought to work seriously at music and not be forced to play in public to earn a living.” Busoni’s unfinished autobiography of 1909 relates how debt follows them everywhere: “The state of the exchequer was then, and always was, the weak point of my father’s administration… All through my childhood and all through my youth I had to suffer… and as far as my father was concerned it never ended.” As to Ferdinando’s insistence that the boy study Busoni’s music is not programmatic, Klagenfurt! It brings back all my child- Bach in great detail, Busoni recalls that at however, his writing is atmospherically hood!” Busoni explains, “I was there with the time of his youth in Italy, Bach is rated suggestive and produces unforgettable my parents; I was twelve years old; I was little higher than : “How did feeling states. Sonatina seconda must be a wonder-child, and everything turned on such a man in his ambition for his son’s considered separate from Dr Faust. Only me. We were in a hotel there and had to career come to hit on the very thing that hindsight reveals that musical material for stay for three months, because we had no was right?” the opera is developed here. That being money and could not pay the bill.” In Vorspiel I of Dr Faust, the students said, the autobiographical references, Busoni is haunted by memories of an from Krakow enter Faust’s study, wel - attached to certain musical passages that unhappy childhood. The sensitive and comed with warmth and generosity. This make their way into the opera, are haunt- gifted prodigy long understood his fiduc- is a common posture for the recognisable ing. It is a vision of both past and future. iary responsibility to his parents. Busoni’s figure of Busoni. Ernst Krenek recalls, Some material explored in the Sonatina father is an abusive pedant with a furious “Music ians were in a minority and painters, seconda is later used in the opera as the temper and cruel demands. The child is writers, poets, architects, scientists, and a ‘Students’ Theme’. In the opera, the exploited as a Tom Thumb of the piano, large number of miscellaneous intellect - students from Krakow enter Faust’s study, and exhaustive concert tours negated any uals were all attracted by the fireworks of accompanied by the ‘Students’ Theme’. serious course of education. Ferdinando his fascinating soliloquy which would go Faust speaks, “Ah Krakow, memories of Busoni incurs egregious debt and makes on for an hour or more, before he retired my youth!” Edward J. Dent, Busoni’s enemies wherever he goes, precipitating ceremoniously … to attend to his creative biographer (published 1933), relates an many disappointments in the young work proper.” From his book, Music incident in 1912 that mirrors these words. artist’s life. History and Ideas, 1932, Hugo Leichten- Busoni is at Hamburg for rehearsals of his As a child, he longs for a future, free of tritt writes, “In Berlin, Ferruccio Busoni was opera Die Brautwahl. According to Dent, his parents. From his first professional for twenty years the advocate of all ideas Busoni and some friends are dining in a concerts, at the age of seven-and-a-half, that aimed seriously at creating something restaurant following a rehearsal. Busoni is until the death of both parents 35 years vitally new. As an incomparable master of sitting with his head in his hands, lost in later, he is their sole means of support. the piano, as a composer, conductor, meditation. One guest begins speaking His mother, Anna Wiess, is an exceptional teacher, essayist, and philosopher of art, about Klagenfurt and Busoni looks up as pianist, and his father, Ferdinando, is a Busoni was an outstanding personality of if stricken. Trance-like, he shocks his traveling clarinet virtuoso of natural, but the highest artistic and intellectual type … companions, exclaiming, “Klagenfurt! unrefined gifts. Anna Busoni is in charge Almost every night there was a gathering Klagenfurt! Who spoke of Klagenfurt?” of her son’s education until Ferdinando of young artists from many countries at Everyone falls silent and later they report Busoni, after lengthy absences, gives up his hospitable residence … there were that Busoni painfully enunciated the word work when he sees that the boy has heated controversies on the artistic several times and said — “The ford of enough talent to support them all. He problems of the day in which everyone wailing.” When asked if he ever played knows little about the piano, and Busoni spoke freely and which were given great there, he replies, “Did I ever play there? describes him as being erratic in rhythm. distinction by Busoni’s own esprit and wit,

30 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2015 MUSICAL OPINION QUARTERLY superior understanding, mature judge- The texture becomes ruthless. Falling enters the water world of a long descend - ment, and illuminating criticism.” sevenths recall a motif from Goldmark’s ing chromatic line. Marked flebile, this By 1912, this powerful artist dominates opera Merlin, announcing the arrival of the haunted wail is texturally and rhythmically the Berlin avant-garde and his circle of magician. A fire spout funnels upward to reminiscent of a Neapolitan song. It is students surrounds him. He is a towering a full statement of the ‘Students’ Theme’. actually an extension of the original mel- virtuoso, welcomed onto stages as a living The spell is cast. Marked Opaco, thick od ic material. The canonic texture liquefies, legend. Guests and students fill his home. ominous chords enter as severe contrast returning seamlessly into a recapitulation In this Dr. Faust scene, Busoni is both to texture and color. The Merlin motif of the opening harmony. Here, the parl - grand seigneur and young student. He is echoes in the falling sevenths of the ando theme is marked Sostenuto quasi the present and the past, the disillusioned ‘Students’ Theme’. The theme repeats, Violoncello and calando. The accompani- and optimistic youth, the dissolute and marked triste, accompanied by lamenting ment figure bleeds into waves of A flat fulfilled adult. murmurs. The two-note ‘incantation’ motif minor and F major. These keys recall the Sonatina seconda’s popularity rests on is always present. Conjuring a ghost from composer’s Berceuse. The A flat minor free-fantasy bravura, overtly emotional another past, a Neapolitan-like song enters, and F major chords are repeated again writing, and Busoni’s intoxicating lyricism. marked pallido, a chilling, subconscious and again, an insistent echo, until the There are confounding harmonic explor- quote from Busoni’s Elegy, ‘All’ Italia!’ In material begins to break off. Long lines ations, contrapuntal writing, and economy modo napolitano. The harmonic under- shift to short fragments. The spell weakens. of material. Small cells are hidden within pinning is slightly broken and stuttering, The contrasting Calmissimo follows, Busoni’s long Italianate cantilena style. The assisting the vocal line. This undulating and has the Mozart Masonic chords laced canons are complex, in reverence to Bach, harmony, drawn from the opening of the bell-like in canon, in Mozart’s original E flat and the sparse perfect form confides a piece, is an uneasy terra firma. The texture key center. The theme is in the middle; devotion to Mozart, all characteristics of transforms as aural deja vu, a faded chords float throughout the 3-stave pass- Busoni’s mature style. From Lisztian background of a half-remembered song, age. The atmosphere is transcendental. bravado, to the disquieting beginnings of from a world long past. Dent relates that Die Zauberflöte was one Dr Faust, the dreamscape stream-of- A cadenza pours into the Con fuoco, of Busoni’s most treasured scores. Writing conscious style of the Elegies implodes in energicissimo, where the ‘Students’ about the Overture of the opera, the full concentrated perfection. No other Theme’ and the Merlin fragment entwine historian Alfred Einstein states: “[Mozart] Busoni piano work will sound so adven - in Mephistophelean fury. The texture compressed the struggle and victory of turous. recalls Liszt’s Dante Sonata, with metric mankind, using the symbolic means of Robert Freund, the composer and opposition of duple and triple rhythms. polyphony: working out, laborious working pianist, writes to Busoni: “The Sonatina The music is driven with frenzied, erratic out in the development section; struggle took me captive at once. The very unusual pacing, to a crashing silence. Lento occulto and triumph.” Busoni’s inclusions of the harmony just suits the fantastic, mystic heads a chord passage cloaked in low Masonic elements symbolise his appeal character of the piece, and gives the imp- bass tones, derived from the opening two- to the higher ideals of humanity, and ression of a natural, spontaneous intuitive- note motif of the ‘incantation’ tone row. subtly foretell the eventual triumph of ness. I ask myself why it is I cannot get in These chords pivot to and from E flat Faust over the devil. touch with Schoenberg whilst even the major. Busoni’s sketches for this passage The canon returns truncated and in- most daring things you do seem quite are marked ‘3-mal. Akkord’. This is the verted, falling into the descending chrom- natural to me.” description Mozart uses for his Masonic atic line. Reverberations of the lowest The incantation begins: Il tutto vivace, music in Die Zauberflöte, and Mozart’s strings prompt the descent. The treble fantastico, con energia, capriccio e senti - opera begins and ends in the key of E flat climbs slightly upward, exhausted, to a full mento. Sostenuto, a mezza voce major, the Masonic key. There follows a solemn restatement of the ‘Students’ parlando. Under this sign post and low in three-voice canon of remarkable harm- Theme’, un poco marziale. As the tableau the bass, glowing coals and a smoldering onic effect, formed from the top three disintegrates, the theme marches into of elements rise in a single melodic notes of the undulating broken-chord shadow, fading behind the curtain. The strand, leaving a trail of molten gold across accompaniment. Mirror image inversions revenants return to their world. The Past two octaves: The alchemist speaks. The twist through strettos and severely stress or the Future. The last instruction of the pianist’s hands weave underneath and on the contrast between lyricism and diss- piano piece is estinto, extinguished. The top of each other, crossing from treble onance. The music is calm, yet the overall falling sevenths, reminiscent of the Merlin and bass on three staves, mixing ethers, effect is unnerving. A canon follows with fragment, are now a personal motif for tossing and blending elements of fire, air a regular dotted-rhythm pattern, and this Busoni, a musical nom de plume. The and water. A two-note motif is drawn from quasi-ostinato is momentarily grounding, sevenths fall to C and the C repeats twice, the opening incantation. The mysterious even though the complex inclusion of hushed and extinguished. The candlewick undulating broken-chord accompaniment theme, mirror image, and melodic ext ens- sizzles, and all is black. Busoni ends on C, is now more pronounced, and serves as ions are never harmonically at rest. The a muffled heartbeat, a profound pulse. ■ a primary source for melodic material. outer voices cross through the middle Nervously, the flames begin to erupt. dotted-rhythm voice with exquisite serp- A fragment of the ‘Students’ Theme’ app- entine style. ears in a scornful unison octave passage. In striking contrast, the next section Concluded in the next issue

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