Editing Ferruccio Busoni (section)

===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>