Ferruccio Busoni’s Path to Music Theater

Abstract

In his debut work for the theater, Musik zu Gozzis Märchendrama Turandot, Busoni attempted to realize a new genre for music theater he described as a “musical illustration” of Gozzi’s fiaba teatrale. While the Turandot-Suite (1905) derived from it was highly successful in the concert hall, the incidental music, first performed by Max Reinhardt in 1911, remained unsuccessful, the publishing of its score delayed, and, to this day, the autograph not yet rediscovered. An analysis of the correspondence between Busoni and his publisher reveals that the composer’s unfamiliarity with theatrical customs and practice led him to consider his incidental music as an autonomous musical work. Only in later years did Busoni successfully realize his anti-naturalistic musical dramaturgy in the opera Turandot (1917).