Aesthetic Views and Ideas of F. Busoni in the Development of Musical Art of the XX Century

Abstract

Summary: The main direction of the article is the study of the leading aesthetic attitudes and ideas of F. Busoni, who influenced the development of music in the twentieth century. The purpose of the work is to systematize and generalize the representations of musicians of the twentieth century on the role of F. Busoni in the development of composer and performing musical art. For this, a comprehensive, hermeneutic, comparative approach is applied. In his books, F. Busoni outlined many ways in which the music of the twentieth century subsequently developed – from an expanded interpretation of tonality, harmony and harmony to new ways of composition, which he summarized in his letter to P. Becker as “new classicism”. The aesthetic views and ideas of F. Busoni expressed by him in relation to both composer and performing creativity were repeatedly discussed by the composer in a polemic with A. Schoenberg and G. Pfitsner, were supported by his students L. Grünberg, O. Luning, as well as many other composers and performers in the twentieth century. Attempts at creating F. Busoni’s new modal structures summarized the leading directions in the search for “new expressiveness” from N. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. Mussorgsky and the late A. Scriabin to O. Messian, P. Hindemith and B. Bartok. The composer’s desire to expand the ability of the fret by dividing it not by semitones, but by quarter tones and less influenced his creation of plans for the production of a new instrument – harmonium for producing a third of tones, which anticipated subsequent experiments and achievements in the field of electronic music. His aesthetic attitudes regarding the expression of feelings in the measures of art “opened” the discussion regarding the art of interpretation, dividing the music audience into two camps – who welcomed the freedom of expression of the musician-performer and who considered the requirements of musical objectivity to be quite justified, like M. Ravel, P. Hindemith and I. Stravinsky. It was they who supported the aesthetic essence of “new classicism” formulated by F. Busoni in the ideals of clear logic, a sense of style and the high art of polyphony – all those qualities that were his guide in the music of I.S. Bach. Formulated in the works of the composer, aesthetic views and ideas continue to develop and make sense in the musical art of the twenty-first century.