Ferriccio Busoni

Entrato in contatto con la musica degli Indiani nel corso della tournée americana del 1910, tra l'anno successivo e il 1916 Ferruccio Busoni lavora a una serie di composizioni su quelle melodie: lo schizzo preparatorio del Canto di mietitura (senza numero d'opera), la Fantasia indiana op. 44, i due volumi del Diario indiano op. 47. Esse gli offrono lo spunto e il banco di prova per elaborare una sintesi linguistica e un rinnovamento della forma musicale originali e coerenti.
Ripercorrendo gli eventi e l'evoluzione delle idee che accompagnano la genesi di tali pezzi – attingendo in particolar modo alle testimonianze contenute nell'epistolario – l'intervento intende ricostruire le tappe del rinnovamento del linguaggio musicale attuato da Busoni e illustrarne i principî estetici e tecnici, per presentare poi una ricognizione delle opere che ne costituiscono gli esiti concreti.

The friendship between Busoni and Sibelius, dating back to the years of Busoni’s professorship in Helsinki, was a long-standing one, in spite of their differences. Close in age, they came from very dissimilar musical backgrounds and experiences, and their relationship started on a striking inequality of roles (Busoni was already a famous musician and a teacher, whereas Sibelius was then only a student). Furthermore, Busoni, “the great pianist”, wished to be appreciated as a composer and conductor; Sibelius, “the great composer”, occasionally suffered from the failure of his efforts to become a concert violinist. Notwithstanding this, and the occasional disagreements or the perplexities sporadically expressed by both on each other’s works, the intensity of their friendship is abundantly documented by their letters, by the testimonies of those surrounding them, by works such as the Geharnischte Suite by Busoni where Sibelius – together with the other “Leskovites” – is the dedicatee of one movement, and by other documents which this article discusses. Among them, evidence of Busoni’s interest in Sibelius’ music is found in the former’s letters to Breitkopf, as regards Busoni’s concerts with Sibelius’ works, questions on the progress of certain works by Sibelius, and Busoni’s reactions to the positive or negative reception of Sibelius’ compositions in the contemporaneous musical world.