Ross Lee Finney

Ross Lee Finney Junior (December 23 1906–February 4 1997) was an American composer born in Wells, Minnesota who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Edward Burlingame Hill, Alban Berg (from 1931-2) and Roger Sessions (in 1935).

His students included Leslie Bassett, George Crumb, Roger Reynolds, William Albright, Robert Ashley, Robert Morris, Stephen Chatman, and Robert Cogan.

According to the notes for the Composers Recordings, Inc. recording of Finney's second cello sonata (about 1953), Chromatic Fantasy In E for Violoncello Solo (1957) and second piano trio (1954), he received the Rome Prize in 1960 and the Brandeis Medal in 1968. (He is quoted in those notes as having begun writing serial music from time to time beginning with his sixth string quartet (a work which uses serial principles but is "in E" on the score), his next work to be composed after the sonata.

He wrote eight string quartets, four symphonies as well as other orchestral works, other chamber works and songs.

elected worklist

*Concertos
**For violin and orchestra (1933, revised 1947)
**For saxophone and orchestra (about 1974)
**Two Piano concertos (one in 1949)
**Concerto for percussion and orchestra (about 1965)

*Orchestral works
**Spaces
**Four symphonies
*Chamber music
**Eight string quartets
**Three violin sonatas (about 1934, ?, 1957)
**Two cello sonatas (number one published around 1941, number two in C published around 1953)
**Six piano sonatas
**Sonatas for viola (at least two, no. 1 published around 1937, no. 2 around 1971)
**Piano trio in E minor (about 1930)
**Piano quartet (1948)
**2 Piano quintets (second written 1961)
**String quintet (published 1966)
**Quartet for oboe, violoncello, percussion and piano (1979)

*Song cycles
**"Chamber music", to words by James Joyce
**"Poor Richard," to words by Benjamin Franklin

*Other
**"Spherical Madrigals" (1947)

References

* [http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/9697/Feb18_97/artcl08.htm University of Michigan Record Obituary]

External links

* [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/mus/pdf/musrfinn.pdf Ross Lee Finney's papers] in the [http://www.nypl.org/musicdiv Music Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] (includes correspondence with Eugene Ormandy regarding premieres of symphonies 2 and 3, etc.)
* [http://dram.nyu.edu/dram/note.cgi?id=8642 Notes to a 1976 and 1981 recording of works by William Bolcom and Ross Lee Finney] (available as a Google Cache)

Further reading

*White, John Norman. "The solo piano music of Ross Lee Finney : a study of the role of the editor based on the unpublished written correspondence between Finney and John Kirkpatrick, with a detailed examination of the fourth piano sonata". Jacksonville State University. Dissertation. 1974.