{"id":1273,"date":"2009-09-24T17:46:20","date_gmt":"2009-09-24T17:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2011-09-07T09:39:43","modified_gmt":"2011-09-07T09:39:43","slug":"busoni-23-original-pieces-and-15-bach-transcriptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/site-news\/busoni-23-original-pieces-and-15-bach-transcriptions-1273\/","title":{"rendered":"Busoni – 25 original pieces and 15 Bach transcriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Italian pianist Busoni\u2019s important achievements as a composer were long over-shadowed by the fact that he was generally thought the greatest piano virtuoso after Liszt<\/a>.
\nHe also made his mark as a respected teacher of both piano playing and composition, and as an editor of Bach<\/a>\u2019s keyboard music. His thoughts on Bach\u2019s music have been highly influential, although his editions weren\u2019t exactly what we today would call authentic.<\/p>\n

The solo piano versions of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor<\/a> (for organ) and the Chaconne from the second Violin Partita<\/a> are among his most well-known transcriptions.
\nTrue or not, the story of Busoni\u2019s wife being introduced at a function as Mrs. Bach<\/em>-Busoni says a lot about how famous Busoni\u2019s Bach transcriptions<\/em><\/a> were already in his own lifetime.<\/p>\n

In spite of his interest in baroque and classical music, Busoni was certainly no backward-looking composer. In his writings he proposes the use of microtonal scales and electronics, and in 1912 he produced his first work \u201cwithout tonality\u201d, the Second Sonatina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Busoni\u2019s major keyboard work, Contrapuntal Fantasy<\/a>, is based on the final, incomplete fugue from Bach\u2019s Art of Fugue.<\/p>\n

25 original pieces by Busoni and 15 Bach-Busoni transcriptions<\/a> have been added to our online sheet music library.<\/p>\n

\n

Busoni plays:
\n1. Bach\/Busoni: Chorale Prelude (Orgel-Choralvorspiel) “Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein” BWV 734 (piano arrangement)
\n2. Beethoven-Busoni: Ecossaise WoO83 in E-flat<\/p>\n