Editing Ferruccio Busoni (section)

===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>