Here are all of Ferruccio Busoni’s published piano pieces dating from his 11th through 17th years. The legendary pianist/composer may have viewed these works as youthful transgressions to be ignored, yet many possess a high degree of confidence and originality, while occasionally bearing aspects of Busoni’s mature style. Seeds of the early Piano Concerto are apparent in the dance forms prevailing throughout the Op 9 character pieces, while its third selection, ‘In chiesa’, hints at the thick, pillar-like chord-voicings that characterise his Bach settings.

The 24 Preludes, Op 37, follow Chopin’s key scheme, yet might be described as the improbable love child of Schumann and Franck. Out of the five movements of the Suite campestre, Op 18, the finale’s undulating low-register chords hold the most interest. Among works recorded here for the first time include a pair of Preludes and Fugues, which basically take Bach on late 19th-century harmonic detours. The three Racconti fantastici, Op 12, exemplify Busoni’s penchant for using pre-existing music as a jumping-off point for convoluted inventiveness (a trait that he shared with his rival Godowsky, by the way). Its opening piece, ‘Duello’, wouldn’t exist without Contrapunctus II from Bach’s The Art of Fugue, while the concluding ‘La caverna’ channels the finale of Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata but frames it in ominous tremolos.

Holger Groschopp’s polished, full-bodied pianism provides a most sympathetic platform for the young Busoni’s aspirations. Here’s an example of what I mean: in the final ‘Trovatore’ movement of Macchiette medioevali, Op 33, Groschopp gives breadth and seriousness to the somewhat pretentious rolled chords, whereas Wolf Harden (on his eighth volume of Busoni’s piano music for Naxos) races through them. And as excellent as Harden’s performance of the wonderful Scherzo, Op 4, may be (Vol 3), Groschopp varies the détaché phrases to a more characterful and rhythmically watertight degree. Well-researched annotations and superb sound will further attract Busoni acolytes to this fascinating and valuable release.