We have now completed the description of Busoni's twenty-year sojourn in Berlin—the period of the greatest blossoming of his talents, the final development, full unfolding, and solidification of the most important and best aspects of his art. It is time to take stock, to analyze the nature of Busoni's pianistic and compositional endeavors and the essence of his esthetic views.*

The cardinal question of any esthetic is the question of the relationship of art and life. Is art a reflection and an expression of life, or is it a collection of purely formal, “unexpressive” constructions, unconnected to human thoughts and feelings?

Obviously, the first of these two points of view is that of realism. The acceptance of a close connection between art and life is a necessary prerequisite of the realistic esthetic. Necessary, but not entirely sufficient: this acceptance does not in and of itself impart a realistic inclination to a given esthetic system as a whole. However, the rejection of this connection is a true, sufficient symptom of antirealism of a given esthetic conception.

What was Busoni's position on this question?

For the answer, let us turn to his own words. In the very beginning of his primary work on esthetics we encounter the following unequivocal proclamation: “all arts, resources and forms ever aim at the one end, namely, the imitation of nature and the interpretation of human feelings.”