BUSONI, Ferruccio
b Empoli, near Florence, 1 April 1866;
d Berlin, 27 July 1924, aged fifty-eight
He was of Italian/Austrian parentage. His father was a clarinettist and his mother a pianist. He studied piano, attaining concert standard by his midteens. He stayed in Leipzig for some years, then travelled to teach in Helsinki, Moscow and the USA. After giving up teaching he worked as a virtuoso pianist, based in Berlin, until 1914. During the war he refused to perform in any of the warring countries, retiring to Switzerland to compose. After the war he returned to Berlin and to concert-giving, but his health failed and he died of a kidney disease.
1880-1 (14-15)
String Quartet No 1 in C major
1882 (16)
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, for male voice and orchestra
Il Sabato del villagio, for solo voices, chorus and orchestra
Serenata, for cello and piano
1883 (17)
Piano Sonata in F minor
1886 (20)
String Quartet in C minor
Little Suite for cello and piano
1888 (22)
Symphonic Suite
Konzert-Fantasie, for piano and orchestra; later (1892)
called
'Symphonisches Tongedicht'
1889 (23)
String Quartet No 2 in D minor
1890 (24)
Konzertstucke, for piano
Violin Sonata No 1
1895 (29)
Orchestral Suite No 2
1896-7 (30-1)
Violin Concerto in D major
1897 (31)
Comedy Overture
1898 (32)
Violin Sonata No 2
1903-4 (37-8)
Piano Concerto (using male choir)
1907 (41)
Elégien, for piano
1908-11 (42-5)
The Bridal Choice, for orchestra
1909 (43)
Berceuse élégiaque, for orchestra
1912 (46)
Nocturne Symphonique, for orchestra
1913 (47)
Indian Fantasy, for piano and orchestra
1914-16 (48-50)
Arlecchino, opera
19116-24 (50-8)
Doktor Faust, opera (completed by Jarnach after Busoni's death and produced in Dresden in 1925)
1917 (51)
Turandot, opera
Die Brautwahl, orchestral suite
1919 (53)
Concertino for clarinet and small orchestra
1920 (54)
Divertimento for flute and orchestra
Sonatina No 6 for piano (chamber fantasy on Bizet's Carmen)
1921 (55)
Romance and Scherzo for piano
Elegy for clarinet and piano
1923 (57)
Ten Variations on a Chopin prelude
Busoni also composed many piano solos and a Fantasia Contrappuntista for two pianos, based on Bach's Art of Fugue.