Fantasia contrappuntistica is a solo piano piece composed by Ferruccio Busoni in 1910. Busoni created a number of versions of the work, including several for solo piano and one for two pianos. It has been arranged for organ (by Wilhelm Middelschulte, dedicatee of the work, whom Busoni praised as "Meister des Kontrapunktes") and for orchestra (by Frederick Stock) under the composer's supervision. The work is in large part a homage to Johann Sebastian Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge. Conversely, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji's Opus clavicembalisticum appears to be a homage to Fantasia contrappuntistica.

Sections and Piece analysis

Fantasia contrappuntistica is written in twelve parts, and takes about 25 minutes to perform: The first ten pages of the introductory "Preludio corale" are nearly identical to the Third Elegy with a few small cuts and alterations, including the removal of all German expression marks or their translation into Italian. In the third fugue, the subject is composed of four notes, which are B♭, A, C, and B♮. These four notes spell Bach in German, where the H is the B♮, and are commonly known as the B-A-C-H motif.

Manuscripts

The manuscripts in Busoni's hand are in the Berlin State Library as part of the Busoni Archive.

Publication history

Arrangements