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{{Short description|Sequence of classical music}}
{{infobox musical composition
| name                = ''An die Jugend''
| type                = Solo piano pieces
| composer            = {{nowrap|[[Ferruccio Busoni]]}}
| image               = Ferruccio Busoni 01.jpg
| alt                 = 
| image_upright       = 
| caption             = The composer in 1906
| key                 = 
| catalogue           = [[Busoni-Verzeichnis|BV]] 254
| composed            = {{Start date|1909}}
| performed           = 
| published           = 
| scoring             = 
}}
'''''An die Jugend''''' {{nobreak|([[Busoni-Verzeichnis|BV]] 254)}} is a sequence (or collection) of pieces of [[european classical music|classical music]] for solo [[piano]] by [[Ferruccio Busoni]].

== Plan of the work ==
The collection was written June–August 1909 and consists of four volumes, the last with an epilogue. It was published later in the same year by Zimmermann of [[Leipzig]] under four separate catalog numbers (Z 4755, Z 4756, Z 4757, and Z 4781). Each book takes about five minutes to play, and may be played separately, or together as a cycle. As in many other works by Busoni, it is compiled from transcribed, freely adapted, and original music.<ref>[[#Beaumont (1985)|Beaumont]], p. 149.</ref><ref name="Sitsky p65">[[#Sitsky (2008)|Sitsky]], p. 65.</ref>

* Book 1: Preludietto, Fughetta ed Esercizio - this section uses [[impressionist music|impressionist]] [[harmony|harmonies]] reminiscent of [[Claude Debussy]]. In the "Esercizio", [[chord (music)|chord]]s suggesting A major in the left hand are juxtaposed with passages in the right based on the [[whole tone scale]].
* Book 2: Preludio, Fuga e Fuga figurata (Studie nach J. S. Bach's Wohltemperiertem Klavier) - The "Preludio" and "Fuga" are almost unaltered transcriptions of the D major prelude and fugue from the first book of Bach's ''[[Well-Tempered Clavier]]''. The "Fuga figurata" presents elements of the prelude and fugue simultaneously.
* Book 3: Giga, Bolero e Variazione (Studie nach Mozart) - The "Giga" is based on [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s ''Eine kleine Gigue, [[Köchel-Verzeichnis|K.]] 574'', the "Bolero" is based on the fandango in the Act III finale of ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'', while the "Variazione" is a variation on the "Giga".
* Book 4: Introduzione e Capriccio (Paganinesco) & Epilogo - The "Introduzione" is a transcription of the opening of [[Niccolò Paganini]]'s [[24 Caprices for Solo Violin (Paganini)|''Caprice No. 11'']] for solo [[violin]] and the "Capriccio" is an arrangement of his [[24 Caprices for Solo Violin (Paganini)|''Caprice No. 15'']], followed by a return of the material from the "Introduzione," but in modified and grandiose style. Busoni embellishes the originals, creating a difficult piece reminiscent of the elaborate early versions of [[Franz Liszt]]'s own Paganini transcriptions.<ref>[[#Sitsky (2008)|Sitsky]], pp. 289-290.</ref> In the epilogue, music from Book 1 returns. Although, as before, the harmonic language is impressionist and tonal centres are unclear, the piece closes with a [[cadence (music)|cadence]] in C major. (The epilogue is omitted, when the books are not played as a cycle.)

== First performance ==
The first performance, of Books 2, 3, and 4 (without "Epilogo"), was on 16 October 1909 in [[Wigmore Hall|Bechstein Hall]], London, with Busoni as the pianist.<ref>[[#Beaumont (1985)|Beaumont]], p. 148.</ref>

== The first Sonatina ==
The materials of Book 1, and the "Epilogo," all related and highly original compositions, and written in the new style first explored in [[Elegies (Busoni)|''Elegien'']] ([[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV249|BV&nbsp;249]]), were later revised and combined with a new introduction and short linking passages presenting the thematic roots of the pieces and gluing them together into a single entity. The new piece, resembling a set of variations without a theme, Busoni entitled ''Sonatina'' ([[List of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni#BV257|BV&nbsp;257]]). This more advanced and forward-looking composition was the first of what would eventually be six "sonatinas" containing some of the most unusual and original piano music of the early 20th century.<ref name="Sitsky p65"/><ref>[[#Beaumont (1985)|Beaumont]], pp. 157-159.</ref>

== Composition and publication details ==
:1) Preludietto, Fughetta ed Esercizio
::•''Composed:'' June 1909 (Beaumont)
::•''Manuscript:'' [[Busoni Archive]] No. 264
:::•''Title:'' Preludietto [and] Fughetta
:::•3 separate pages, written on one side only, unpaginated
::•''Original publication:'' Leipzig: Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann, Copyright 1909, cat. no. Z. 4755, (11 pages)
::•''Dedication:'' Josef Turczyński
::•''Duration:'' 5 minutes (Beaumont)

:2)  Preludio, Fuga e Fuga figurata
::•''Composed:'' July 1909
::•''Manuscript:'' [[Busoni Archive]] No. 240
:::•''Title:'' Fuga figurata. (nach dem Prael. + Fuga aus dem W. Cl. v. J. S. Bach)
:::•4 pages (1 notated, 2 blank, 1 notated)
:::•''Date:'' "3. Juli 1909 F. Busoni" (at the end of the composition)
::•''Original publication:'' Leipzig: Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann, Copyright [1909], cat. no. Z. 4756, (11 pages)
::•''Dedication:'' [[Louis Gruenberg|Louis Theodor Grünberg]]
::•''Duration:'' 4 minutes (Beaumont)

:3) Giga, Bolero e Variazione
::•''Composed:'' July 1909 (Beaumont)
::•''Manuscript:'' [[Busoni Archive]] No. 240 (attachment)
:::•''Title:'' Variazione (Gigue &ndash; Bolero e Variazione) (d'après Mozart)
:::•1 page with only 6 measures
::•''Original publication:'' Leipzig: Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann, Copyright [1909], cat. no. Z. 4757, (11 pages)
::•''Dedication:'' Leo Sirota
::•''Duration:'' 4 minutes (Beaumont)

:4) Introduzione e Capriccio (Paganinesco) & Epilogo
::•''Composed:'' August 1909 (Beaumont)
::•''Manuscript:'' unknown
::•''Original publication:'' Leipzig: Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann, Copyright 1909, cat. no. Z. 4781, (13 pages)
::•''Dedication:'' Louis Closson; Emile R. Blanchet (Epilogo)
::•''Duration:'' 7 minutes (Beaumont)

:•''Note:'' Four of the dedicatees (Turczyński, Gruenberg, Sirota, Closson) were master class pupils of Busoni in Vienna, Jul 1908 ([[#Beaumont (1987)|Beaumont, 1987]], p. 91), while Blanchet had been a pupil at a master class in Weimar, Jul-Sep, 1899 (Dent).

:•''Later Publications:''
::1) Leipzig: [[Breitkopf & Härtel]], n.d. [1909], cat. nos. E.B. 4944-4947.
::2) Milan: Carisch & Jänichen, n.d.
::3) No. 2: In [[Bach-Busoni Edition]], Volume IV, 1916.
::4) No. 4 (without Epilogo): In [[Klavierübung (Busoni)|Klavierübung]], Book 10, 1925.

:•''Ref:'' [[#Dent (1933)|Dent]], pp. 125, 224; [[#Beaumont (1980)|Beaumont]], pp. 91, 148-157, 368; [[#Sitsky (2008)|Sitsky]], pp. 65-66, 206-208, 264-266, 289-290, 373, 374; [[#Kindermann (1980)|Kindermann]], p. 242; [[#Roberge (1991)|Roberge]], p. 34.

== Free scores ==
* {{IMSLP2|work=An_die_Jugend_%28Busoni%2C_Ferruccio%29|cname=An die Jugend}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
*  <cite id="Beaumont (1985)">[[Antony Beaumont|Beaumont, Antony]] (1985). ''Busoni the Composer''. London: [[Faber and Faber]]. {{ISBN|0-571-13149-2}}</cite>
* <cite id="Beaumont (1987)">[[Antony Beaumont|Beaumont, Antony]], ed. (1987). ''Busoni: Selected Letters''. New York: [[Columbia University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-231-06460-8}}</cite>
* <cite id="Kindermann (1980)">Kindermann, Jürgen (1980). ''Thematisch-chronologisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Ferruccio B. Busoni''. Studien zur Musikgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, vol. 19. Regensburg: {{Ill|Gustav Bosse Verlag|de}}. {{ISBN|3-7649-2033-5}}</cite>
* <cite id="Roberge (1991)">Roberge, Marc-André (1991). ''Ferruccio Busoni: a bio-bibliography''. New York: [[Greenwood Press]]. {{ISBN|0-313-25587-3}}</cite>
* <cite id="Sitsky (2008)">[[Larry Sitsky|Sitsky, Larry]] (2008). ''Busoni and the Piano. The Works, the Writings, and the Recordings'' (2nd ed.) Distinguished Reprints no. 3. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. {{ISBN|978-1-57647-158-6}} [First edition, 1986. {{ISBN|0-313-23671-2}}]</cite>

{{Ferruccio Busoni|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:An Die Jugend}}
[[Category:Compositions for solo piano]]
[[Category:Piano compositions by Ferruccio Busoni]]