‘The Unknown I would have!’ In an epigraph for his essay ‘Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music’, which he wrote in 1907, the composer and pianist Ferrucio Busoni quoted that phrase from the libretto of an opera that he never managed to write called Der Mächtige Zauberer (The Mighty Wizard). It succinctly conjures up the essence of so much of his ingeniously original music that often evokes suggestions of a transcendental and even sometimes paranormal experience. His statement ‘It is within the realm of opera to seize the supernatural or the unnatural….’ might also apply to much of his music for other genres too, notably his piano and orchestral works. He claimed that in his quest for the ‘beyond’ he had discovered the existence of 113 scales (89 more than the traditional 24 in Western music) – and yet he was at his death 100 years ago still basically a ‘tonal’ composer who had not embraced the atonality of Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School. His music remains truly unique after all this time, and in this centenary programme, acclaimed performers discuss his appeal to them with Jon Tolansky. The artists taking part are conductors Sir Mark Elder and Kent Nagano, pianist Marc-André Hamelin, and singers Sir Thomas Allen, Thomas Hampson, Gregory Kunde, and Sandra Trattnig. The music will include movements from the Piano Concerto, works for solo piano, and scenes from his operas Arlecchino and Doktor Faust.
RTÉ lyric fm, Saturday 27th July, 7pm-10pm
