Editing Ferruccio Busoni (section)

== Biography ==
===Early career===
[[File:Ferruccio Busoni, Vienna, 1877.jpg|thumbnail|right|upright=1|Busoni in 1877]]
Ferruccio Dante {{not a typo|Michelangiolo}} Benvenuto Busoni{{efn-lr|The names were chosen by his father to reflect [[Dante Alighieri]], [[Michelangelo Buonarrotti]] and [[Benvenuto Cellini]]; but "in later life, Ferruccio, feeling that all these names involved too formidable a responsibility", quietly dropped them.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 7—8.</ref> The spelling version 'Michelangelo' is sometimes found for his third given name; the spelling 'Michelangiolo' is given by (amongst others) [[Edward Joseph Dent|Dent]], who consulted with Busoni's wife and family in writing his life of the composer.|group= n}} was born on 1 April 1866 in the [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] town of [[Empoli]], the only child of two professional musicians, Ferdinando, a clarinettist, and Anna (née Weiss), a pianist. Shortly afterwards, the family moved to [[Trieste]]. A [[child prodigy]], largely taught by his father, he began performing and composing at the age of seven. In an autobiographical note he comments "My father knew little about the pianoforte and was erratic in rhythm, so he made up for these shortcomings with an indescribable combination of energy, severity and pedantry."<ref>Dent (1933), p. 16.</ref> Busoni made his public debut as a pianist in a concert with his parents at the Schiller-Verein in Trieste on 24 November 1873 playing the first movement of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s [[Piano Sonata No. 16 (Mozart)|Sonata in C major]], and pieces by [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] and [[Muzio Clementi|Clementi]].<ref>Dent (1933), p. 17.</ref> Commercially promoted by his parents in a series of further concerts, Busoni later said of this period, "I never had a childhood."<ref>Couling (2005) pp. 14–16</ref> In 1875, he made his concerto début playing Mozart's [[Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 24]].<ref name=beaumont1>Beaumont (2001) §1</ref>

From the ages of nine to eleven, with the help of a patron, Busoni studied at the [[University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna|Vienna Conservatory]]. His first performances in Vienna were glowingly received by the critic [[Eduard Hanslick]].<ref name=wirth508>Wirth (1980), p. 508</ref> In 1877, Busoni heard the playing of [[Franz Liszt]], and was introduced to the composer, who admired his skill.<ref>Walker (1996), p. 367.</ref> In the following year, Busoni composed a four-movement [[Concerto for Piano and String Quartet (Busoni)|concerto for piano and string quartet]]. After leaving Vienna, he had a brief period of study in [[Graz]] with [[Wilhelm Mayer (composer)|Wilhelm Mayer]], and conducted a performance of his own composition ''Stabat Mater'', [[Opus number|Op.]] 55 in the composer's initial numbering sequence,<ref>See section [[Ferruccio Busoni#Opus numbers|Opus numbers]] in this article.</ref> ([[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV119|BV 119]], now lost) in 1879. Other early pieces were published at this time, including settings of ''[[Ave Maria]]'' (Opp. 1 and 2; [[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV67|BV 67]]) and some piano pieces.<ref name="wirth508" />

[[File:Ferruccio Busoni as a young man.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Busoni {{Circa|1886}}]]
He was elected in 1881 to the Accademia Filharmonica of [[Bologna]], the youngest person to receive this honour since Mozart.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 41–42.</ref> In the mid 1880s, Busoni was based in Vienna, where he met with [[Karl Goldmark]] and helped to prepare the vocal score for the latter's 1886 opera ''Merlin''. He also met [[Johannes Brahms]], to whom he dedicated two sets of piano ''Études'', and who recommended he undertake study in [[Leipzig]] with [[Carl Reinecke]].<ref name="wirth508" /> During this period, Busoni supported himself by giving recitals, and also by the financial support of a patron, the Baronin von Tedesco. He also continued to compose, and made his first attempt at an opera, ''Sigune'', which he worked on from 1886 to 1889 before abandoning it.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 70–1.</ref> He described how, finding himself penniless in Leipzig, he appealed to the publisher Schwalm to take his compositions. Schwalm demurred, but said he would commission a [[Fantasia (music)|fantasy]] on [[Peter Cornelius]]'s opera ''[[The Barber of Baghdad]]'' for fifty [[German gold mark|marks]] down, and a hundred on completion. The next morning, Busoni turned up at Schwalm's office, and asked for 150 marks, handing over the completed work, and saying "I worked from nine at night to three thirty, without a piano, and not knowing the opera beforehand."<ref>Kogan (2010), p. 10.</ref>

===Helsingfors, Moscow, and America (1888–1893)===
[[File:Ferruccio Busoni.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|Busoni {{Circa|1900}}]]
In 1888, the musicologist [[Hugo Riemann]] recommended Busoni to [[Martin Wegelius]], director of the [[Sibelius Academy|Institute of Music]] at Helsingfors ([[Helsinki]], in present-day [[Finland]], then part of the [[Russian Empire]]), for the vacant position of advanced piano instructor. This was Busoni's first permanent post.<ref>Wis (1977), p. 251.</ref> Amongst his close colleagues and associates there were the conductor and composer [[Armas Järnefelt]], the writer [[Adolf Paul]], and the composer [[Jean Sibelius]], with whom he struck up a continuing friendship.<ref>Wis (1977), p. 256.</ref> Paul described Busoni at this time as "a small, slender Italian with chestnut beard, grey eyes, young and gay, with&nbsp;... a small round cap perched proudly on his thick artist's curls".<ref>Wis (1977), p. 255.</ref>

Between 1888 and 1890, Busoni gave about thirty piano recitals and chamber concerts in Helsingfors;<ref>Wis (1977), pp. 267–269.</ref> amongst his compositions at this period were a set of Finnish folksongs for [[piano duet]] (Op. 27).<ref>Wis (1977), p. 258.</ref> In 1889, visiting Leipzig, he heard a performance on the organ of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]]'s [[Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565|Toccata and Fugue in D minor]] ([[List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach|BWV]] 565), and was persuaded by his pupil Kathi Petri—the mother of his future pupil [[Egon Petri]], then only five years old—to transcribe it for piano. Busoni's biographer [[Edward Joseph Dent|Edward Dent]] writes that "This was not only the beginning of [his] transcriptions, but&nbsp;... the beginning of that style of pianoforte touch and technique which was entirely [Busoni's] creation."<ref>Dent (1933), p. 86.</ref> Returning to Helsingfors, in March of the same year Busoni met his future wife, Gerda Sjöstrand, the daughter of the Swedish sculptor [[Carl Eneas Sjöstrand]], and proposed to her within a week. He composed ''Kultaselle'' ("To the Beloved") for cello and piano for her ([[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV237|BV 237]]; published in 1891 without an opus number).<ref>Wis (1977), pp. 259–261.</ref>

In 1890, Busoni published his first edition of Bach works: the two- and three-part ''[[Inventions and Sinfonias (Bach)|Inventions]]''.<ref>Dent (1933), p. 103</ref> In the same year he won the prize for composition, with his ''Konzertstück'' ("Concert Piece") for piano and orchestra, Op.&nbsp;31a ([[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV236|BV 236]]), at the first [[Anton Rubinstein Competition]], initiated by [[Anton Rubinstein]] himself at the [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory]].<ref>Taylor (2007), p. 218.</ref> As a consequence he was invited to visit and teach at the [[Moscow Conservatoire]]. Gerda joined him in Moscow where they promptly married.<ref>Wis (1977), p. 264.</ref> His first concert in Moscow, when he performed [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|''Emperor'' Concerto]], was warmly received. But living in Moscow did not suit the Busonis for both financial and professional reasons; he felt excluded by his nationalistically-inclined Russian colleagues. So when Busoni received an approach from [[William Steinway]] to teach at the [[New England Conservatory of Music]] in Boston, he was happy to take the opportunity, particularly since the conductor of the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] at that time was [[Arthur Nikisch]], whom he had known since 1876 when they performed together at a concert in Vienna.<ref>Couling (2005), p. 128.</ref>

Busoni's first son, Benvenuto (known as Benni), was born in Boston in 1892, but Busoni's experience at New England Conservatory proved unsatisfactory. After a year he resigned from the Conservatory and launched himself into a series of recitals across the Eastern US.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 97–100</ref>

===Berlin, 1893–1913: "A new epoch"===
[[File:Busonimap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Cartoon by Busoni of his 1904 US tour, drawn for his wife: "Map of the West of the United States showing the long and dolorous Tour, the anti-sentimental journey of F.B., 1904, Chicago"]]
Busoni was at the Berlin premiere of [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s opera ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' in April 1893. The result was to force on him a re-evaluation of the potential of Italian musical traditions which he had so far ignored in favour of the German traditions, and in particular the models of Brahms and the orchestral techniques of Liszt and [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]].<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 115–117.</ref> Busoni immediately began to draft an adulatory letter to Verdi (which he never summoned the courage to send), in which he addressed him as "Italy's leading composer" and "one of the noblest persons of our time", and in which he explained that "''Falstaff'' provoked in me such a revolution of spirit that I can&nbsp;... date the beginning of a new epoch in my artistic life from that time."<ref>Beaumont (1987), pp. 53–54.</ref>

In 1894, Busoni settled in Berlin, which he henceforth regarded as his home base, except during the years around [[World War I]]. He had earlier felt unsympathetic toward the city: in an 1889 letter to Gerda he had described it as "this Jewish city that I hate, irritating, idle, arrogant, ''[[Wikt:parvenu|parvenu]]''".<ref>Couling (2005), p. 143.</ref>{{efn-lr|Busoni's attitude to Jews and [[antisemitism]] is somewhat ambiguous. Busoni's great-great-grandfather on his mother's side was half-Jewish (although he may not have been aware of this);<ref>Couling (2005), p. 352.</ref> Busoni used Jewish melodies to characterize a Jewish character in his opera ''Die Brautwahl'';<ref>Knyt (2010a) p. 233</ref> when during World War I Busoni took a stand against German aggression, [[Hans Pfitzner]] took the occasion to call his views "a manifestation of the international Jewish movement" against Germany;<ref>Kogan (2010), p. 101.</ref> in 1920 Busoni referred to his pupil [[Kurt Weill]] as "a very fine Jew, who will certainly make his way".<ref>Couling (2005), p. 330.</ref> But in protest at German [[hyper-inflation]] in 1923, he rewrote for concert performance an aria from ''Das Brautwahl'', "The Gruesome Tale of the Jew Coiner Lippold", and naïvely expressed surprise when performance was turned down on the grounds of its anti-Semitic implications.<ref>Beaumont (1987), pp. 371, 374.</ref>|group= n}} The city was swiftly growing in population and influence during this period and determined to stake itself as the musical capital of the united Germany,<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 148–149.</ref> but as Busoni's friend the English composer [[Bernard van Dieren]] pointed out, "international ''virtuosi'' who for practical reasons chose Berlin as their abode were not so much concerned with questions of prestige", and for Busoni the city's development as "the centre of the musical industry [was to] develop an atmosphere which [Busoni] detested more than the deepest pool of stagnant convention".<ref>van Dieren (1935), p. 35.</ref>

Berlin proved an excellent base for Busoni's European tours. As in the previous two years in the US, the composer had to depend for his living on exhausting but remunerative tours as a piano virtuoso; in addition at this period he was remitting substantial amounts to his parents, who continued to depend on his income. Busoni's programming and style as a recitalist initially raised concerns in some of Europe's musical centres. His first concerts in London, in 1897, met with mixed comments. ''[[The Musical Times]]'' reported that he "commenced in a manner to irritate the genuine amateurs [i.e. music-lovers] by playing a ridiculous travesty of one of Bach's masterly Organ Preludes and Fugues, but he made amends by an interpretation of Chopin's [[Études (Chopin)|Studies (Op. 25)]] which was of course unequal but, on the whole, interesting".<ref>Scholes (1947), p. 318.</ref> In Paris, the critic Arthur Dandelot commented "this artist has certainly great qualities of technique and charm", but strongly objected to his addition of [[chromatic]] passages to parts of Liszt's ''[[Deux légendes (Liszt)|St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots]]''.<ref>Roberge (1996), p. 274.</ref>

Busoni's international reputation rose swiftly, and he frequently performed in Berlin and other European capitals and regional centres (including Manchester, Birmingham, Marseilles, Florence, and many German and Austrian cities) throughout this period, as well as returning to America for four visits between 1904 and 1915.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 166–173, 183–188, 215–216.</ref> This journeying life led van Dieren to call him "a musical [[Ishmael]]" (after the Biblical wanderer).<ref>van Dieren (1935), p. 44.</ref> The musicologist [[Antony Beaumont]] considers Busoni's six Liszt recitals in Berlin of 1911 as the climax of his pre-war career as a pianist.<ref>Beaumont (n.d.), §1.</ref>

Busoni's performing commitments somewhat stifled his creative capacity during this period: in 1896 he wrote "I have great success as a pianist, the composer I conceal for the present."<ref>Dent (1933), p. 105, p. 113.</ref> His monumental [[Piano Concerto (Busoni)|Piano Concerto]] (whose five movements last over an hour and include an offstage male chorus) was written between 1901 and 1904.<ref>Beaumont (1985), p. 61.</ref> In 1904 and 1905, the composer wrote his ''[[Turandot Suite]]'' as [[incidental music]] for [[Carlo Gozzi]]'s [[Turandot (Gozzi)|play of the same name]].<ref>Beaumont (1985), p. 76.</ref> A major project undertaken at this time was the opera ''[[Die Brautwahl]]'', based on a tale by [[E. T. A. Hoffmann]], first performed (to a lukewarm reception) in Berlin in 1912.<ref>Beaumont (1985), p. 116.</ref> Busoni also began to produce solo piano works that clearly revealed a more mature style, including the ''[[Elegies (Busoni)|Elegies]]'' (BV 249; 1907), the suite ''[[An die Jugend]]'' (BV 252; 1909) and the first two piano [[sonatina]]s, [[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV257|BV 257]] (1910) and BV 259 (1912).<ref>Beaumont (1985), pp. 101, 148, 178.</ref>

In a series of orchestral concerts in Berlin between 1902 and 1909, both as pianist and conductor, Busoni particularly promoted contemporary music from outside Germany (though he avoided contemporary music, except for his own, in his solo recitals).<ref>Wirth (1980), p. 509.</ref> The series, which was held at the ''Beethovensaal'' (Beethoven Hall), included German premieres of music by [[Edward Elgar]], Sibelius, [[César Franck]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Vincent d'Indy]], [[Carl Nielsen]] and [[Béla Bartók]]. The concerts also included premieres of some of Busoni's own works of the period, among them, in 1904, the Piano Concerto, in which he was the soloist under conductor [[Karl Muck]]; in 1905, his ''Turandot Suite'', and, in 1907, his ''Comedy Overture''.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 332–336.</ref> Music of older masters was included, but sometimes with an unexpected twist. For example, Beethoven's [[Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)|Third Piano Concerto]] with the eccentric first movement cadenza by [[Charles-Valentin Alkan]] (which includes references to Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]]).<ref name="dent156">Dent (1933), p. 156</ref><ref>Smith (2000), vol. 2, pp. 178—179.</ref> The concerts aroused much publicity but generated aggressive comments from critics. Couling suggests the programming of the concerts was "generally regarded as a provocation".<ref>Couling (2005), p. 192.</ref>

During the period Busoni undertook teaching at masterclasses at [[Weimar]], Vienna and Basel. In 1900 he was invited by [[Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Duke Karl-Alexander]] of Weimar to lead a masterclass for fifteen young virtuosi. This concept was more amenable to Busoni than teaching formally in a Conservatory: the twice-weekly seminars were successful and were repeated in the following year. Pupils included [[Maud Allan]], who later became famous as a dancer and remained a friend.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 125—128.</ref> His experience in Vienna in 1907 was less satisfactory, although amongst his more rewarding pupils were [[Ignaz Friedman]], [[Leo Sirota]], [[Louis Gruenberg]], [[Józef Turczyński]] and Louis Closson; the latter four were dedicatees of pieces in Busoni's 1909 piano album ''An die Jugend''. But arguments with the Directorate of the Vienna Conservatoire, under whose auspices the classes were held, soured the atmosphere.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 160–161; Beaumont (1997), p. 91.</ref> In the autumn of 1910 Busoni gave masterclasses and also carried out a series of recitals in Basel.<ref>Couling (2005), p. 239.</ref>

In the years before World War I, Busoni steadily extended his contacts in the art world in general as well as amongst musicians. [[Arnold Schoenberg]], with whom Busoni had been in correspondence since 1903, settled in Berlin in 1911 partially as a consequence of Busoni lobbying on his behalf. In 1913 Busoni arranged at his own apartment a private performance of Schoenberg's ''[[Pierrot lunaire]]'' which was attended by, amongst others, [[Willem Mengelberg]], [[Edgard Varèse]], and [[Artur Schnabel]].<ref>Beaumont (1985), pp. 26–27, 208.</ref> In Paris in 1912 Busoni had meetings with [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]], who proposed collaboration in a ballet or opera.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 197–198, 201–202.</ref> He also met with the [[Futurism|Futurist]] artists [[Filippo Tommaso Marinetti|Filippo Marinetti]] and [[Umberto Boccioni]].<ref>Dent (1933), p. 203.</ref>

===World War I and Switzerland (1913–1920)===
[[File:Ritratto di Busoni, 1916 (Roberto Biccioni).jpg|thumbnail|right|upright=1.3|Portrait of Busoni by [[Umberto Boccioni]], 1916 (in the collection of the [[Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna]], Rome)]]
Following a series of concerts in Northern Italy in spring 1913, Busoni was offered the directorship of the Liceo Rossini in Bologna. He had recently moved to an apartment in [[Viktoria-Luise-Platz]] in [[Schöneberg]], Berlin, but took up the offer, intending to spend his summers in Berlin. The posting proved unsuccessful. Bologna was a cultural backwater, despite occasional visits from celebrities such as [[Isadora Duncan]]. Busoni's piano pupils were untalented, and he had constant arguments with the local authorities. After the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, he asked for a year of absence to play an American tour; in fact he was never to return. Virtually his sole permanent achievement at the school was to have modernized its sanitary facilities.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 205–225.</ref> He had however during this time composed another [[concertante]] work for piano and orchestra, the ''[[Indian Fantasy]]''. The piece is based on melodies and rhythms from various [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] tribes; Busoni derived them from a book he had received from his former pupil, the [[Ethnomusicology|ethnomusicologist]] [[Natalie Curtis|Natalie Curtis Burlin]] during his 1910 tour of the US. The work was premiered with Busoni as soloist in March 1914, in Berlin.<ref>.Beaumont (1985), pp. 190–191.</ref>

From June 1914 to January 1915, Busoni was in Berlin. As a native of a neutral country (Italy) living in Germany, Busoni was not greatly concerned, at first, by the outbreak of war. During this period, he began to work seriously on the libretto for his proposed opera ''[[Doktor Faust]]''. In January 1915 he left for a concert tour of the US, which was to be his last visit there. During this time he continued work on his Bach edition, including his version of the ''[[Goldberg Variations]]''.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 220—223</ref> Upon the composer's return to Europe, Italy had entered the war. Busoni therefore chose to base himself from 1915 in Switzerland. In Zurich, he found local supporters in [[Volkmar Andreae]] (conductor of the [[Tonhalle Orchestra]]) and [[Philipp Jarnach]]. His friend [[José Vianna da Motta]] also taught piano in Geneva at this time. Andreae arranged for Busoni to give concerts with his orchestra.<ref>Dent (1933), p. 229.</ref> Jarnach, who was 23 when he met Busoni, in 1915, became Busoni's indispensable assistant, among other things preparing piano scores of his operas; Busoni referred to him as his ''[[Wikt:famulus|famulus]]''.<ref>Couling (2005), p. 311</ref> While in America, Busoni had carried out further work on ''Doktor Faust'', and had written the libretto of his one-act opera ''[[Arlecchino (opera)|Arlecchino]]''.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 223</ref> He completed it in Zurich and, to provide a full evening at the theatre, reworked his earlier ''Turandot'' into a [[Turandot (Busoni)|one-act piece]]. The two were premiered together in Zurich in May 1917.<ref>Beaumont (1985), p. 219, p. 240.</ref>

In Italy in 1916, Busoni met again with the artist Boccioni, who painted his portrait; Busoni was deeply affected when a few months later Boccioni was killed (in a riding accident) whilst on military training, and published an article strongly critical of war.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 231–232.</ref> An expanded re-issue of Busoni's 1907 work ''A New Esthetic of Music'' let to a virulent counter-attack from the German composer [[Hans Pfitzner]] and an extended war of words.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 306–310.</ref> Busoni continued to experiment with [[microtonal music|microtones]]: in America he had obtained some [[harmonium]] reeds tuned in [[third-tone]]s, and he claimed that he "had worked out the theory of a system of thirds of tones in two rows, each separated from each other by a semitone".<ref>Couling (2005), p. 292.</ref>

Although he met with many other artistic personalities also based in Switzerland during the war (including [[Stefan Zweig]], who noted his extensive drinking, and [[James Joyce]]),<ref>Couling (2005), p. 290, p. 311</ref> Busoni soon found his circumstances limiting. After the end of the war, he again undertook concert tours in England, Paris and Italy.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 240–247.</ref> In London, he met with the composer [[Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji]] who played his Piano Sonata No. 1 for him (he had dedicated it to Busoni). Busoni was sufficiently impressed to write a letter of recommendation for Sorabji.<ref>Beaumont (1987), pp. 300, 303.</ref> When Busoni's former pupil [[Leo Kestenberg]], by then an official at the Ministry of Culture in the German [[Weimar Republic]], invited him to return to Germany with the promise of a teaching post and productions of his operas, he was very glad to take the opportunity.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 318–322.</ref>

===Final years (1920–1924)===
[[File:Gedenktafel busoni.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|alt=Plaque reads: Hier wohnte bis zu seinem Tode, Ferruccio Busoni, Musiker, Denker, Lehrer, 1866–1924, Die Società Dante Alighieri Comitado di Berlino anlässlich des 100. Geburtstages des Künstlers |Commemorative plaque at site of Busoni's apartment in Schöneberg, Berlin]]In 1920, Busoni returned to the Berlin apartment at Viktoria-Luise-Platz 11 that he had left in 1915. His health began to decline, but he continued to give concerts. His main concern was to complete ''Doktor Faust'', the libretto of which had been published in Germany in 1918. In 1921 he wrote "Like a subterranean river, heard but not seen, the music for ''Faust'' roars and flows continually in the depths of my aspirations".<ref>Dent (1933), p. 264.</ref>

Berlin was the heart of the musical world of the Weimar Republic. Busoni's works, including his operas, were regularly programmed. Health permitting, he continued to perform; problems of [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|hyperinflation in Germany]] meant that he needed to undertake tours of England. His last appearance as a pianist was in Berlin in May 1922, playing Beethoven's ''Emperor'' Concerto.<ref>Dent (1933), pp. 265–271; Coulson (2005), p. 337.</ref> Among his composition pupils in Berlin were [[Kurt Weill]], [[Wladimir Vogel]], and Robert Blum, and during these last years Busoni also had contact with Varèse, [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]], the conductor [[Hermann Scherchen]], and others.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 335–336.</ref>

Busoni died in Berlin on 27 July 1924, officially from [[heart failure]], although inflamed kidneys and overwork also contributed to his death.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 351–352.</ref> ''Doktor Faust'' remained unfinished at his death and was premiered in Berlin in 1925, completed by Jarnach.<ref>Beaumont (1995), p. 311.</ref> Busoni's Berlin apartment was destroyed in an air-raid in 1943, and many of his possessions and papers were lost or looted. A plaque at the site commemorates his residence. Busoni's wife, Gerda, died in Sweden in 1956. Their son Benni, who, despite his American nationality had lived in Berlin throughout World War II, died there in 1976. Their second son Lello, an illustrator, died in New York in 1962.<ref>Couling (2005), pp. 353–354.</ref>