In the years before World War I, Busoni steadily extended his contacts in the art world in general as well as amongst musicians. Arnold Schoenberg, with whom Busoni had been in correspondence since 1903, settled in Berlin in 1911 partially as a consequence of Busoni lobbying on his behalf. In 1913 Busoni arranged at his own apartment a private performance of Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" which was attended by, amongst others, Willem Mengelberg, Edgard Varèse, and Artur Schnabel. In Paris in 1912 Busoni had meetings with Gabriele D'Annunzio, who proposed collaboration in a ballet or opera. He also met with the Futurist artists Filippo Marinetti and Umberto Boccioni.