Concert for piano and orchestra with male choir

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Ferruccio Busoni, 1906

The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in C major with male choir op. 39 (BV 247) is a monumental work by Ferruccio Busoni from 1904 . It comprises five movements with a six-part male choir, invisible in the finale , in which the composer used verses from Adam Oehlenschläger's drama Aladin , composed in 1805 .

The pianistically very demanding composition is one of the longest piano concertos in music history with a duration of between 70 and 80 minutes . The work, which is more symphonic than concertante, shows the influence of Franz Liszt with its programmatic approach and virtuoso style .

To the music

The first movement “Prologo e Introito” ( Allegro, dolce e solenne ) begins with a song-like theme carried by the strings , which preludes the melodies of the finale and is reminiscent of Max Reger , while the secondary theme of the brass seems to be inspired by Mendelssohn . A dominant piano part sets in, which, with its massive chords stretching across the keyboard, is reminiscent of the pathetic opening of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto , but goes its own way in the energy of the distinctive rhythms and tries to surpass it with virtuosity right from the start.

The second movement ( Pezzo giocoso ) refers to Franz Liszt by first alluding to the main theme of the Dante sonata and later playing a melody from its Venezia e Napoli .

The third, slow movement ( Pezzo serioso ), of a pathetic and solemn character, is divided into four parts: Introduction ( Andante sostenuto ), Prima Pars ( Andante, quasi adagio ), Altera pars ( Sommessamente ) and Ultima pars ( a tempo ).

The highly virtuoso fourth movement ( Vivace; In un tempo ) is a lively, energetically charged tarantella , peppered with pianistic effects and intended as a homage to Italy . In the choir finale ( largamente ), Busoni processes verses from the last act of the drama Aladdin, the invisible choir sings of the “eternal power of hearts”, which should feel Allah's closeness and praise him.

Background and reception

Busoni himself was the soloist when the work was premiered on November 10, 1904 in the Beethoven Hall in Berlin with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Karl Muck . The structure of the work proves to be a kind of five-movement symphony for large orchestra with a six-part male choir and obbligato piano. Its part is nevertheless extremely difficult and only accessible to confident pianists. There are recordings by John Ogdon , Volker Banfield , Marc-André Hamelin and Wiktorija Walentinowna Postnikowa .

Joachim Kaiser assesses the work ambivalent to negative. On the one hand, he emphasizes the ingenious musicality, liveliness and freshness, ingenuity and freedom, which would have been particularly impressive in the first, second and fourth movements, but emphasizes the immensity and exaltation of the composition. In some places it seems like a “parody on the subject of full grip” and thunders with the heaviest “piano caliber.” The third movement could not maintain the tension and the finale was not a real increase, but a weakly lyrical conclusion. It is astonishing how Busoni abandoned the will to form in this work. If the “novels go over the top”, then more clearly “than the nebulous Germanic minds.” For Kaiser, it is neither the excess length nor the lack of inspiration that endangers the concert, but Busoni's inability to submit to a recognizable stylistic principle. Above all, the neoclassical or neo-romantic compositions required the self-imposed renunciation of harmonic or pianistic bombast, the principle of renunciation that caught the eye of Stravinsky , the most important neoclassicist, and was central to him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joachim Kaiser , Ferruccio Busoni, Concerto for Piano and Male Choir , in: Erlebte Musik, A Personal Music History from the 18th Century to the Present, Second Volume, List Verlag, Munich 1994, p. 277
  2. ↑ Hans Joachim Moser, Music History in 100 Life Pictures, Ferrucio Busoni , Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 1958, p. 867
  3. ↑ Joachim Kaiser, Ferruccio Busoni, Concerto for Piano and Male Choir , in: Erlebte Musik, A Personal Music History from the 18th Century to the Present, Second Volume, List Verlag, Munich 1994, p. 278