Assessment
Edward J. Dent, author of the first definitive biography of Busoni, had this to say about the exercises and studies in the ''Klavierübung'': "...they are all extraordinarily interesting and stimulating. They are interesting too as helping to elucidate some of Busoni's other compositions, for the studies show how certain of his harmonic devices grew out of purely pianistic principles based on definite positions of the hands on the keyboard. Every one of the studies has genuine musical originality, and even the exercises to be repeated in all keys are a good deal more musical than such forms of torture are generally made to be."Publication of the first edition
The ''Klavierübung'' was first published byOriginal plan of the work
Part 1 (''Sechs Klavierübungen und Präludien'') consists of six tutorials (numbered I - VI). Tutorials I to V were written in three days (10–12 September 1917), and tutorial VI one month later. The first piece of Part 2 was written on 7 November 1917, and the remainder from 4 to 10 June 1918. It consists of three tutorials (VII to IX). Each tutorial begins with exercises and moves on to short original pieces and adaptions or transcriptions of excerpts from the repertory. For instance, the first tutorial starts with traditionalDifficulties completing
Because of distractions, including ill health, and other concerns, not least being the work on his lifelong masterpiece, the opera ''Publication of a second edition
From December 1923 to January 1924 Busoni did manage to reorganize and enrich the material for a second edition of 284 pages. Entitled ''Klavierübung in zehn Büchern'' iano Tutorial in Ten Books it was published posthumously in 1925 as Volume VIII of the Bach-Busoni Edition. Only a small number of copies of the second edition were printed, and until recently, it has been a major rarity. Fortunately, it is now available online (see, for exampleSignificance of the second edition
The second edition is particularly important, since it contains all Busoni's last piano compositions. Two of these are not found elsewhere and are of special interest, since they were intended as source material for the unfinished final scene of ''Annotated listing of contents
Busoni did not typically disclose the source of the extracts on which he based many of the pieces in the ''Klavierübung''. They are often simply titled, for example, "Nach Bach" or "Nach Schubert." Fortunately, both Beaumont and Sitsky Sitsky, pp. 162-170. have provided fairly detailed descriptions of the contents of both the first and second editions. Some of this information is inserted here as annotations between square brackets.Klavierübung in Five Parts (First Edition)
''Klavierübung in fünf Teilen''Part 1: Six Piano Tutorials and Preludes
''Sechs Klavierübungen und Präludien'' (''der Klavierübung erster Teil.'')Part 2: Three Piano Tutorials and Preludes
''Drei Klavierübungen und Präludien'' (''der Klavierübung zweiter Teil.'')Part 3: Staccato
''Lo Staccato.'' (''der Klavierübung dritter Teil.'')Part 4: Eight Etudes by Cramer
''Acht Etüden von Cramer'' (''der Klavierübung vierter Teil.'')Part 5: Variations. Perpetual motion. Scales.
''Variationen - Perpetuum mobile - Tonleitern (der Klavierübung fünfter Teil)''Klavierübung in Ten Books (Second Edition)
Title page: :''Klavierübung in zehn Büchern von Ferruccio Busoni. Zweite umgestaltete und bereicherte Ausgabe.'' : iano Tutorial in Ten Books by Ferruccio Busoni. Second reorganized and enriched edition.Title shown on page 1: :''Klavierübung. Studien and Vortragsstücke.'' : iano Tutorial. Studies and Performance Pieces.Book 1: Scales
''Erstes Buch. Tonleitern'', pp. 1–12.Book 2: Forms derived from scales
''Zweites Buch. Von Tonleitern abgeleitete Formen'', pp. 13–26.Book 3: Chordal (broken chords)
''Drittes Buch. Akkordisches'', pp. 27–50.Book 4: "For Three Hands"
''Viertes Buch. "À trois mains,"'' pp. 51–62.Book 5: Trills
''Fünftes Buch. Triller'', pp. 63–88.Book 6: Staccato
''Sechstes Buch. Lo Staccato'', pp. 89–117.Book 7: Eight Etudes after Cramer
''Siebentes Buch. Acht Etüden nach Cramer''Book 8: Variations and Variants on Chopin
''Achtes Buch. Variationen und Varianten zu Chopin''__Book_9:_Seven_Short_Pieces_for_the_Cultivation_of_Polyphonic_Playing_
''Neuntes_Buch._Sieben_kurze_Stücke_zur_Pflege_des_polyphonen_Spiels''Book 9: Seven Short Pieces for the Cultivation of Polyphonic Playing
''Neuntes Buch. Sieben kurze Stücke zur Pflege des polyphonen Spiels''Book 10: Etudes after Paganini-Liszt
''Zehntes Buch. Etüden nach Paganini-Liszt''Composition and publication details
* Klavierübung in Five Parts (First Edition) :Part 1: Sechs Klavierübungen und Präludien ::•''Compiled and composed:'' Zurich, 10–12 September, 10 October 1917 ::•''Manuscript:''Notes
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klavierubung (Busoni) Compositions by Ferruccio Busoni