Ferruccio Busoni

Italy, 1873–1924

Italian pianist, composer and editor of Bach. His Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music (1907) anticipated microtonal and electric instruments, and his Berlin circle included several modernists of the next generation.

MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Ferruccio Busoni and 2 artists Ferruccio Busoni influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Ferruccio Busoni?

• Franz Liszt — Busoni was the supreme Liszt pianist of his age and editor of the collected edition — the declared inheritor of the Liszt tradition.
• Johann Sebastian Bach — The Bach-Busoni editions — his monumental transcriptions — are an official lifelong act of devotion; 'Bach is the foundation of piano playing'.

Which artists did Ferruccio Busoni influence?

• Otto Luening — Luening studied with Busoni in Zurich as a teenager — the visionary of the New Esthetic personally blessed the future tape pioneer.
• Edgard Varèse — Busoni mentored the young Varèse in Berlin — the Sketch of a New Esthetic was, in Varèse's words, the book that liberated him.