Elegies

Elegies, BV 249, by the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni is a set of solo piano pieces which can be played as a cycle or separately. Initially published in 1908 with six pieces, it was subsequently expanded to seven by the addition of the Berceuse (BV 252). The set of seven takes just over 40 minutes to play. Sections of the work The seven pieces are titled as follows: 1. Nach der Wendung (Recueillement) ["After the Turning" (Contemplation)] 2. All' Italia! (In modo napolitano) ["To Italy!" (In a Neapolitan Mode)] 3. Meine Seele bangt und hofft zu Dir (Choralvorspiel) ["My soul trembles and hopes of thee" (Chorale Prelude)] 4. Turandots Frauengemach (Intermezzo) ["Turandot's Zenana" (Intermezzo)] 5. Die Nächtlichen (Walzer) ["The Nocturnal" (Waltz)] 6. Erscheinung (Notturno) ["Visitation" (Nocturne)] 7. Berceuse ["Lullaby"] Although labelled as "Neue Klavierstücke" [New Piano Pieces] by the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel, that is not a totally accurate description, since three of the pieces are based on other, older compositions by the composer. No. 2 is based on the All' Italiana (4th movement) of the Piano Concerto (BV 247), although the music itself is not entirely from that movement. A particularly effective moment is based on a section of the second movement marked "in modo napolitano." Nos. 4 and 5 come from the Turandot Suite (BV 248), and were later used in the opera Turandot (BV 273). A further three pieces were also used again: No. 3 became the introductory "Preludio corale" of the Fantasia contrappuntistica (BV 256), No. 6 was used for Act I part 1 of the opera Die Brautwahl (BV 258), and No. 7 was extended into the orchestral masterpiece Berceuse élégiaque (BV 252a). New musical style The Elegies mark a significant change in Busoni's compositional approach. Up to this point he had composed in the Romantic style, reaching a level of full mastery, as exemplified by the Violin Concerto (BV 243) and the Piano Concerto (BV 247). The harmonic language of the Elegies is extended, with the pedal used audaciously to blend disparate tones: unrelated triads are overlapped and juxtaposed; chords are constructed from intervals other than thirds; unusual and highly chromatic scales and runs, often differing from the surrounding harmonies, are extensively employed and varied; melodies, and solitary "sighs," moving by whole and half steps, magnify these disorienting effects.