Music from Marlboro - Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica for Two Pianos / Reger: Cello Sonata
9/6/2011, 5 Tracks, 58:58
Featuring
Peter Serkin
Richard Goode
Mischa Schneider
Ferruccio Busoni
Max Reger
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Composer Biography
Max Reger, a composer, was a child of the late Romantic era who looked to Bach and Brahms for inspiration, considering them the 'twin gods' of his musical pantheon.
Composition History
Ferruccio Busoni, a composer, wrote the Fantasia contrappuntistica during a 1910 concert tour in America, inspired by a friend's suggestion to complete Bach's unfinished Art of the Fugue.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Busoni considered his Fantasia contrappuntistica to be an exercise in pure musical thought, like Bach's Art of the Fugue, and stated it was not conceived for a specific instrument.
Compositional Technique
The Fantasia contrappuntistica by Busoni is a fresh composition that develops and combines Bach's subjects from an unfinished fugue, and then ventures beyond by writing a quadruple fugue.
Recording & Production
This recording is part of Columbia Records' acclaimed 'Music From Marlboro' series, capturing the spirit of Rudolf Serkin's Marlboro Music Festival.
Critical Reception
Max Reger, a composer, was considered a 'dangerous revolutionary' by his contemporaries due to his seemingly unorthodox harmony, despite a musicologist pointing out that his chords could be found in Bach.
