Felice Boghen Collection

On 11 December 1992 the Busoni Centre came into possession of an impressive correspondence of over 200 autograph letters by 58 leading figures in the musical and cultural life of Europe in the first decades of the century, a bequest of the recipient Felice Boghen (Venice 1869 – Florence 1945).

Felice Bonghen – composer, conductor, pianist and great teacher –was a leading figure and first-hand witness of musical life in Italy and Europe at the turn of the 20th century.

In 1910 he took up residence in Florence where he became Professor of harmony and musical scores at the “L.Cherubini” Conservatorium, and where he died in 1945.

A musician of vast culture with a sympathetic interest in others, Felice Boghen corresponded with many key figures in the Italian and European musical scene, among them Cortot, Dukas, Massenet, Philipp, Puccini, Sgambati and Wolf-Ferrari.

He met Busoni at Zurich during the First World War and formed a friendship with him that lasted until the Empoli-born musician died.

The correspondence contains more than 20 unpublished autograph letters from Busoni, written between December 1915 and May 1924. In 1993 the correspondence was enhanced by the extensive musical library of Felice Bonghen, including the entire literature for keyboard between Bach and Busoni and beyond, as well as scores of the period.

Thus was created, at the very heart of the Centre, a Collection of great importance for the history of music, and of immediate relevance for research into Busoni. The on-line cataloguing of the collection has recently been completed.