Bidspirit auction | [MUSIC AUTOGRAPHS] - FERRUCCIO BUSONI

[MUSIC AUTOGRAPHS] - FERRUCCIO BUSONI (1866–1924) - Important Group of Three Autograph - FERRUCCIO BUSONI (1866–1924) - Important Group of Three Autograph Communications Signed to Carlo Felice Boghen, including a musical quotation, 1917–1924 Autograph letter signed “F. Busoni” and two autograph postcards signed “F. Busoni”, in Italian, addressed to the pianist, composer and pedagogue Carlo Felice Boghen (1869–1945). Bologna and Berlin, 14 June 1917–1924. Three items, comprising five written pages; the principal letter with an autograph musical example. A significant group of correspondence documenting the musical and personal relationship between Busoni and the Florentine pianist and composer Carlo Felice Boghen, to whom Busoni would later dedicate the third of his Drei Albumblätter, BV 289. The principal item is a substantial autograph letter dated Bologna, 14 June 1917, opening “Carissimo Maestro”. Busoni warmly thanks Boghen for his kind words and for sending him compositions which, he writes, reveal the “excellent musician” in their author. Responding to Boghen’s request, Busoni sends him two subjects for a fugue, adding that he would be honoured to see his own name placed at the head of the completed work: “Con tanto più piacere soddisfaccio al suo desiderio, inviandole due temi di Fuga; e mi terrò onorato di leggere il mio nome alla testa del lavoro compiuto.” (“It is therefore with all the greater pleasure that I fulfil your request by sending you two fugue subjects; and I shall feel honoured to see my name at the head of the completed work.”) Busoni then discusses the contrapuntal possibilities of the first subject, explaining that it contains a “small problem”: the superimposition of three chromatic counterpoints in different note-values. He describes the second subject as likewise chromatic, but simpler, and writes it out directly in the letter as an autograph musical example: “Il secondo tema, cromatico pur esso stesso, è più semplice ed eccolo: [musical notation]. Scelga Lei.” (“The second subject, itself chromatic as well, is simpler, and here it is: [musical notation]. The choice is yours.”) The letter closes with cordial greetings and a renewed expression of esteem, followed by Busoni’s characteristic signature. The two accompanying postcards further document the continuing relationship between Busoni and Boghen. Both are written and signed by Busoni and addressed to Boghen in Florence, one at Piazza del Duomo 1, and concern musical and professional matters, including performances, travel and Busoni’s movements between Italy and Berlin. In the first, dated 22 March 1921, Busoni discusses a planned concert in Florence and expresses concern that the arrangements may not materialise. Circumstances have brought him to Bologna earlier than expected, he explains, preventing him from travelling to Florence. The later postcard, sent from Berlin in 1924 and warmly addressed “Caro Boghen”, praises a work sent by his correspondent as “bello, bellissimo e ottimamente concepito” (“beautiful, extremely beautiful and excellently conceived”). Although unable to satisfy Boghen’s wishes because of existing commitments and impending travel, Busoni adds that he will read the music with pleasure and interest and closes affectionately. The correspondence is particularly significant in the light of Busoni’s documented affection for Boghen. Their relationship was not merely epistolary: in 1921 Busoni dedicated to him the third piece, “Drittes Blatt – Sostenuto religioso”, of his Drei Albumblätter, BV 289, subsequently published by Breitkopf & Härtel. The present group thus documents a sustained musical exchange between the two men, from Busoni’s sharing of contrapuntal ideas in 1917 to their continuing correspondence during the final years of his life. A particularly attractive group of Busoni correspondence, distinguished by an autograph musical quotation and by its direct documentation of the exchange of musical ideas with Carlo Felice Boghen, later the dedicatee of Busoni’s third Albumblatt, BV 289. Provenance / Literature: The group corresponds in content and description to the Busoni–Boghen correspondence formerly offered by J. A. Stargardt / Kotte Autographs, described as an autograph letter signed and two autograph postcards signed to Carlo Felice Boghen, including the letter of 14 June 1917 in which Busoni sends two fugue subjects and discusses the superimposition of three chromatic counterpoints. Further correspondence between Boghen and Busoni is preserved in the Ferruccio Busoni Nachlass at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, while the Centro Studi Musicali Ferruccio Busoni, Empoli, preserves an important Boghen archive containing a substantial body of Busoni’s letters to him. Condition: The autograph letter, on ruled paper, with original horizontal and vertical folds, some age-toning and marginal wear, with losses and irregularities principally at the lower and left edges; writing,