“Chopin: An Insight into Him”. Essay by Ferruccio Busoni Russian Translation Preliminary Remarks, and Commentary

Boris B. Borodin
Mussorgsky Ural State Conservatory (Yekaterinburg, Russia)
0000-0002-5297-4064
bbborodin@mail.ru
Abstract

The essay “Chopin: An Insight into Him” (“Chopin: Eine Ansicht über ihn”) by Ferruccio Busoni consist an original concept of the Polish composer’s work. The main quality that determined the originality of Chopin’s style, Busoni considers “der Halbheit”—halfness, duality, contradiction, characteristic of Chopin’s personality. This quality, according to Busoni, manifests itself at the levels of intention and objectification, tradition and innovation; is reflected in the inconsistency of the dramaturgy of his works and in the style of the piano texture. Busoni considers the most valuable in Chopin’s work to be works devoid of this “halfness”— a series of etudes, some of preludes and several nocturnes. The translation of the essay is supplemented with extensive commentary giving an idea of the intellectual and artistic context of the creation of this literary opus. The view on the development of the author’s aesthetic opinions and on the role of Chopin’s works in Busoni’s performing art is presented. The influence of his ideas on the 20th century musical performance is traced.

References
  1. Barenboim, L.A. 1962. Anton Grigor’evich Rubinshtein [Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein], in 2 vols., vol. 2: 1867–1894. Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo. (In Russian).
  2. Borodin, Boris B. 2020. “Iz literaturnogo naslediya Ferruchcho Buzoni: annotatsii  k tsyurikhskim programmam [From the Literary Heritage of Ferruccio Busoni: Annotations for the Zurich Programs].” Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta kul’tury i iskusstv [Bulletin of Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts], no. 53, 29–41. (In Russian).
  3. Borodin, Boris B. 2020. “Rannie zvukozapisyvayushchie tekhnologii i problema reprezentativnosti audiomaterialov rubezha 19–20 vekov dlya istorii ispolnitel’skogo iskusstva [Early Recording Technologies and the Problem of the Representativeness of Audio Materials at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries for the History of Performing Arts].” In Iskusstvovedenie v kontekste drugikh nauk v sovremennom mire: Paralleli i vzaimodeistviya: sbornik trudov Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii, 21–26 aprelya 2019 goda. Rossiiskaya gosudarstvennaya biblioteka [Art History in the Context of Other Sciences in the Modern World: Parallels and Interactions], proceedings of the international scientific conference, April 21–26, 2019, Russian State Library, compiled and edited by Grigoriy R. Konson, 865–87. Moscow: Informatsionno-izdatel’skiy dom “Filin”. (In Russian).
  4. Borodin, Boris B. 2021. “Ferruchcho Buzoni — interpretator Betkhovena [Ferruccio Busoni as Beethoven’s Performer].” Vestnik muzykal’noy nauki / Journal of Musical Science 9, no. 2: 48–61. (In Russian).
  5. Busoni, Ferruccio. 2012. “Iz literaturnogo naslediya [From the Literary Heritage],” translated by Maxim V. Melnikov. Nauchnyy vestnik Moskovskoy konservatorii / Journal of Moscow Conservatory 3, no. 4 (December): 154–59. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.26176/mosconsv.2012.11.4.09.
  6. Busoni, Ferruccio. 1962. “O pianisticheskom masterstve. Izbrannye vyskazyvaniya” [About Pianistic Skills. Selected Remarks],” translated by Grigoriy M. Kogan. In Ispolnitel’skoe iskusstvo zarubezhnykh stran [Performing Art of Foreign Countries], issue 1, 141–74. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo. (In Russian).
  7. Busoni, Ferruccio. 2019. Eskiz novoy estetiki muzykal’nogo iskusstva [Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music]. Translated by Viktor P. Kolomiytsev. St. Petersburg: Planeta muzyki. (In Russian).
  8. Weininger, Otto. 2012. Pol i harakter. Principial’noe issledovanie [Sex and Character: An Investigation of Fundamental Principles]. Moscow: Akademicheskiy Proekt. 
    (In Russian).
  9. Igumnov, Konstantin N. 2005. “O Shopene [About Chopin].” In Kak ispolnyat’ Shopena [How to Perform Chopin], compiled by Anna V. Zassimova, 159–62. Moscow: Klassika–XXI. (In Russian).
  10. Lenz, Wilhelm von. 2005. “Vospominaniya o Shopene [Memoirs of Chopin].” In Kak ispolnyat’ Shopena [How to Perform Chopin], compiled by Anna V. Zassimova, 105–18. Moscow: Klassika–XXI. (In Russian).
  11. Monsaingeon, Bruno. 2003. Glenn Gould. Net, ya ne ekstsentrik [Glenn Gould. No, I’m not an Eccentric]. Translated by Mariya L. Ivanova-Anninskaya. Moscow: Klassika–XXI. (In Russian).
  12. Neuhaus, Heinrich G. 2000. Razmyshleniya, vospominaniya, dnevniki. Izbrannye stat’i [Reflections, Memories, Diaries. Featured Articles]. Moscow: Klassika–XXI.
    (In Russian).
  13. Rubinstein, Anton G. 1983. Literaturnoe nasledie [Literary Heritage], in 3 vols., vol. 1: Stat’i. Knigi. Dokladnye zapiski. Rechi [Articles, Books, Memorandums, Speeches]. Moscow: Muzyka. (In Russian).
  14. Rubinstein, Anton G. 2005. “O Shopene [About Chopin].” In Kak ispolnyat’ Shopena [How to Perform Chopin], compiled by Anna V. Zassimova, 143–47. Moscow: Klassika–XXI. (In Russian).
  15. Rubinstein, Anton G. 1974. Lektsii po istorii fortepiannoy literatury [Lectures on the History of Piano Literature]. Moscow: Muzyka. (In Russian).
  16. Zweig, Stefan. 1991. Vcherashniy mir [The World of Yesterday], collected works in Russian translation. Moscow: Raduga. (In Russian).
  17. Tchaikovsky, Pyotr I. 1953. Muzykal’no-kriticheskie stat’i [Music Critical Articles]. Edited by Vasiliy V. Yakovlev. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo. 
    (In Russian).
  18. Schumann, Robert. 1978. O muzyke i muzykantakh. Sobranie statei [About Music and Musicians. Collected Articles], in 2 vols., vol. II-A. Moscow: Muzyka. (In Russian).
  19. Armbruster, [Robert]. 1999. “Hand Coordination.” The AMICA Bulletin: Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association 36, no. 1 (January-February): 14–18.
  20. Beaumont, Antony. 1985. Busoni the Composer. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  21. Busoni, Ferruccio. 1935. Briefe an seine Frau. Edited by Friedrich Schnapp, with introductory article by Willi Schuh. Erlenbach, Zürich, and Leipzig: Rotapfel.
  22. Busoni, Ferruccio. 2005. Lettere a Isidor Philipp. “Toute supériorité est un exil”. Edited by Laureto Rodoni. Roma: Ismez.
  23. Busoni, Ferruccio. 1987. Selected Letters. Edited by Antony Beaumont. New York: Columbia University Press.
  24. Busoni, Ferruccio. 1922. Von der Einheit der Musik: von Dritteltönen und junger Klassizität, von Bühnen und Bauten und anschliessenden Bezirken. Berlin: M. Hesse.
  25. Casella, Alfredo. 1954. Il Pianoforte. Milano: G. Ricordi.
  26. Couling, Della. 2005. Ferruccio Busoni: A Musical Ishmael. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow.
  27. Day, Timothy. 2001. A Century of Recorded Music: Listening to Musical History. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  28. Dent, Edward J. 1974. Ferruccio Busoni: A Biography. London: Eulenburg Books.
  29. Dyment, Christopher, comp. 1979. “Ferruccio Busoni: His Phonograph Recordings.” Journal of the Association for Recorded Abilities Sound 10, no. 2/3: 185–87.
  30. Fifield, Christopher. 2017. Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire. [s.l.]: Routledge.
  31. Hall, Denis. 2005. “The Early Recordings for the Welte-Mignon.” Pianola Journal 16, 33–48.
  32. Knyt, Erinn E. 2017. Ferruccio Busoni and His Legacy. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
  33. Knyt, Erinn E. 2017. “Ferruccio Busoni and the ‘Halfness’of Frederic Chopin.” The Journal of Musicology 34, no. 2 (Spring): 241–80.
  34. Leichtentritt, Hugo. 1945. “Ferruccio Busoni.” The Music Review 6, 206–12.
  35. Niemann, Walter. 1919. Meister des Klaviers, die Pianisten der Gegenwart und der letzten Vergangenheit. Berlin: Schuster & Loeffler.
  36. Rattalino, Piero. 2003. “Chopin and Busoni: Absolute Incompatibility or Compatible Diversity?” translated by Eric Siegel. In Chopin and His Work in the Context of Culture: Studies, vol. 2, edited by Irena Poniatowska, 159–64. Krakow: Polska Akademia Chopinowska.
  37. Sitsky, Larry. 1986. Busoni and the Piano: The Works, the Writings, and the Recordings. New York: Greenwood.
  38. Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz. 1972. Ferruccio Busoni; Chronicle of a European. New York: St. Martin’s Press.