With the Elegies from 1907, Busoni’s enters his mature period, leaving behind his earlier romantic approach in favour of a more modernistic one. The set was published just after his important book Toward a New Aesthetic of Music, in which he proposed a number of new paths for the music of the 20th century, such as the use of microtonal scales and electronics.
No such radical steps are taken in the Elegies, but nevertheless Busoni himself felt that the Elegies signified “a milestone in my development. Almost a transformation. Hence the title, ’Nach der Wendung [After the Turning]’”.
The seventh Elegy, Berceuse, was added in 1909. It is a transcription of Busoni’s own orchestral work Berceuse élégiaque, dedicated to the memory of his mother, who died that year.
