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| Keywords |
| * Ferruccio Busoni * Edmund Husserl * Music * Aesthetics * Phenomenology * Reduction * Intentionality * Time-Consciousness * Metatonal * Temporal Intentionality Graphs |
| Abstract |
| Ferruccio Busoni’s (1866-1924) aesthetic beliefs are expressed in his letters, newspaper and journal articles, his Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music; as well as in published recollections by contemporaries, colleagues and master-class students. A philosophic thread runs through these beliefs, and it is a thread that can be sympathetically woven alongside phenomenological ideals. Busoni was not a phenomenologist, nor was he ever directly influenced by Husserlian thought. Yet, there are strong correlations if we collect the ideas that are spread across Busoni’s writings and the ideas which lie behind the three main tenets of Husserl’s phenomenological system (reduction, intentionality and time-consciousness). By drawing from these mutually sympathetic sources, we can construct an idiosyncratic model of analysis that can explore Busoni’s compositions: pieces which have so far been quite resistant to more traditional forms of analysis.
Ferruccio Busoni: A Phenomenological Approach to his Music and Aesthetics (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2009): ISBN 978-3-8383-2390-9 explores the various reconstructions of Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) as a musician and an aesthetician, and then demonstrates how Husserlian Phenomenology can act as a complementary structure to Busoni’s music and aesthetic beliefs. Prior models of phenomenological analysis are discussed, and a fresh methodology is introduced alongside a new form of analysis: Temporal Intentionality Graphs. Further, a musicological term is carefully revised, metatonal, which reflects music like Busoni’s that is both ‘with’ and ‘after’ tonality but is not ‘free atonal’ in the manner of the Second Viennese School nor just a matter of tonal harmony with chromatic colouration. Five analyses are presented that employ this new methodology and which uncover the inner workings of Busoni’s compositions: Nach der Wendung (1907), Fantasia nach J.S. Bach (1909), Berceuse Élégiaque (1909), Sonatina Seconda (1912) and Nocturne Symphonique (1913). The book concludes with a critical appraisal of the method and its application, and an outline for how the analysis can be used by music theorists to explore similarly woven compositions. The book is available through internet retailers including Amazon: click here. |
| Contents |
| Part One: Busoni the Musician and Aesthetician 1. Introduction 2. The Trajectories of Busoni Scholarship 3. Phenomenology as a Complementary Structure to Busoni’s Aesthetics 4. Reduction 4a. Reduction in Busoni’s Aesthetic Beliefs 4b. A Brief History of Reduction 4c. Reduction as an Husserlian Idea 5. Intentionality 5a. Intentionality in Busoni’s Aesthetic Beliefs 5b. A Brief History of Intentionality 5c. Intentionality as an Husserlian Idea 6. Consciousness of Internal Time 6a. Consciousness of Internal Time in Busoni’s Aesthetic Beliefs 6b. Consciousness of Internal Time as an Husserlian Idea Part Two: Techniques of Phenomenological Analysis 7. Music, Phenomenology and Analysis 8. Methodology of a Phenomenological Analysis: Metatonal Music and Temporal Intentionality Graphs Part Three: Analyses of Busoni’s Pieces (1907-1913) 9. Nach der Wendung (1907) 10. Fantasia nach J.S. Bach (1909) 11. Berceuse Élégiaque (1909) 12. Sonatina Seconda (1912) 13. Nocturne Symphonique (1913) 14. Conclusion Bibliography
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