Ferruccio Busoni was a giant, and he knew it. At the piano, he was recognised as such. As a composer, however, he was largely ignored, and known mainly as an arranger of other men’s music. A musical genius with a titanic intellect, he saw himself as a high priest, leading the way to a new age of music. Roaming from the wild west of America to the streets of Moscow, blazing trails to the future while immersed in the past, he influenced a generation he couldn’t follow, while his own generation couldn’t follow him. This profile of Busoni includes more than an hour of music by the composer. Audio samples are contained in the text: just tap to listen while you read.
