Alongside the Chaconne for violin, the ten Chorale Preludes for organ are Busoni’s best-known piano transcriptions of works by J. S. Bach. Unlike the Chaconne, which Busoni envisaged for concert performance, he transcribed the Chorale Preludes in “chamber-music style”. A great deal of this organ/piano edition can also be played by advanced amateurs. We are publishing Busoni’s definitive version in the first modern Urtext edition with valuable fingering suggestions by Marc-André Hamelin. And what is more, in the appendix we are publishing an eleventh chorale prelude for the first time: Busoni’s transcription of “Aus tiefer Not”. With regard to performing its six-part setting, the composer himself spoke of an “extreme performance limit” – but why not judge for yourself!
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Preface
Like many composers and pianists from the mid-19th century onwards, Ferruccio B. Busoni (1864 – 1924) arranged numerous works by other composers. Besides Beethoven and Mozart, he was particularly interested in the oeuvre of Johann Sebastian Bach – not least in Bach’s organ works, which he arranged for concert performance on the piano and performed in public … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer
Ferruccio Busoni
Important composer, pianist, conductor, and music essayist who advocated for classicality and classicism in a mode of thought aligned with progress. In addition, he adapted and transcribed quite a few works, especially those of Johann Sebastian Bach.
| 1866 | Born in Empoli on April 1, the son of a clarinetist and a pianist. His parents foster his musical education. Prodigy: early career as a pianist. |
| 1887 | String Quartet in D minor, Op. 26. |
| from 1888 | Piano instructor in Helsinki, Moscow, and Boston. |
| 1890 | Participates in the piano and composition categories of the Rubinstein Competition in St. Petersburg with his Sonata No. 1 in E minor, for violin and piano, Op. 29; the Two Pieces for Piano, Op. 30a; and Konzertstück for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 31a. This last piece wins the first prize in composition. |
| 1894 | Moves to Berlin. |
| 1897/1904 | Comedy Overture, Op. 38. |
| 1903–04 | Concerto, Op. 39, for piano, orchestra, and male choir in five movements with a concluding choral movement. |
| 1907 | Essay: “Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music.” |
| 1909 | “Berceuse élégiaque,” Op. 42. |
| 1909–10 | Second tour of America. |
| 1910 | “Fantasia contrappuntistica” for piano as an attempt to find a conclusion for Bach’s “Art of Fugue.” |
| 1912 | Performance in Hamburg of his opera “Die Brautwahl” (“The Bridal Choice”). |
| 1913 | Director of the Liceo Musicale in Bologna. |
| 1915 | Rondò arlecchinesco, Op. 46. |
| 1915–20 | Living in Zurich, due to the war. |
| 1917 | Performances in Zurich of his operas “Turandot” and “Arlecchino”; they draw upon the Commedia dell’arte. |
| 1920 | Director of a master class at the Prussian Arts Academy in Berlin. Tanzwalzer, Op. 53.1922 Essay “On the Unity of Music.” |
| 1924 | Dies in Berlin on July 27. |
| 1925 | Posthumous performance in Dresden of his opera “Doktor Faust.” |
About the authors
Lange tijd zag het er niet naar uit dat er ooit nog eens een heruitgave van zou komen, maar ondertussen keerde het tij en onlangs heeft G. Henle Verlag deze bewerkingen in Urtext uitgegeven, maar dan compleet - inclusief de nooit eerder in druk verschenen bewerking van 'Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir'. De layout is geheel conform Henle's hoge kwaliteitsnormen: goed leesbaar en vooral ook praktisch. (...) Busoni zal ze nooit gezien hebben!
Die jüngst im Henle-Verlag erschienene Bach-Busoni-Edition mit zehn transkribierten Orgelchoralvorspielen folgt nicht der Willkür des Herausgebers, sondern gibt eine von Busoni selbst zusammengestellte Sammlung wieder, die zwischen 1898 und 1916 in insgesamt fünf verschiedenen Ausgaben erschienen ist. Bei der vorliegenden Ausgabe wurde die Fassung letzter Hand verwendet, in der es vereinzelt Retuschen und Erweiterungen gibt. (...) Es sind in der Tat Juwelen der pianistischen Kunst der Transkription.