Busoni-Verzeichnis

This article presents a complete catalog of original compositions by Ferruccio Busoni, including a large number of early works, most of which remain unpublished. The earliest preserved pieces were written when he was barely seven years old. Over 200 of the total of 303 original compositions were produced before the age of twenty.

For a more selective list of recorded works, see Ferruccio Busoni discography.

Busoni also produced a number of cadenzas, transcriptions, and editions. For a complete list see List of adaptations by Ferruccio Busoni.

Busoni's opus numbers are confusing. Initially he numbered each work as he wrote it. Upon reaching Op. 40 he began assigning opus numbers of unpublished youthful works to new compositions. Later he started again from Op. 30, adding an "a" to Op. 30 to 36. From Op. 41 the numbering is fairly regular although it bears little relationship to the actual date of composition, and many compositions were published without opus number. Among unpublished compositions, some have two opus numbers. Because of their confusing nature Roberge recommended against using them and eliminated them from his List of Works. However, since opus numbers are written on manuscripts, included on published scores, used for identification of compositions by many recordings, and included in the standard reference works by Dent (1933), Kindermann (1980), Beaumont (1985), and Sitsky (2008), they are given here as an aid in identification. The user should be aware, however, that a particular opus number may refer to more than one item and says very little about the date of composition or publication.

The letters BV (Busoni-Verzeichnis [Busoni Catalog]) followed by a number are used for identification of Busoni's original compositions. The BV numbers are based on the first comprehensive catalog of Busoni's unpublished as well as published works prepared by Kindermann. The letters KiV are also sometimes used, as well as the abbreviations Kind- and K. Although Kindermann himself did not specify any letter(s) to be used for referring to his catalog, he has agreed to the use of the abbreviation BV. The catalog is not strictly chronological, since it frequently incorporates published works by the date of publication rather than the date of composition. When the catalog number is preceded by the letters BV B, for example, Ten Chorale Preludes by Bach, BV B 27, it refers to a cadenza, transcription, or adaptation (see List of adaptations by Ferruccio Busoni).

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