Michael Finnissy

Michael Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer and pianist. His music is characterised by the range of extremes often found in his work; opposing binary structures are found commonly, often seen as juxtaposing textures, register and tempi. Many of Finnissy's compositions are statements, or reflections, on topics of personal significance, and can be observed in English Country-tunes, and The History of Photography in Sound.

Biography

Finnissy was born in Tulse Hill, London. He was a foundation scholar at the Royal College of Music from 1965–68, where he studied composition with Bernard Stevens and the Webern disciple Humphrey Searle, and piano with Edwin Benbow.

Finnissy has taught many of the new generation of British composers. He has taught at the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Sussex, and is currently Professor of composition at the University of Southampton.^[1]

He served as president of the International Society for Contemporary Music from 1990 until 1996.

Style

Finnissy's own abilities as a pianist underlie many of his compositions. A significant number of these are piano transcriptions in his very complex style which typically involves intricate polyrhythms, virtuosic technique and interwoven linear, rather than harmonic, textures. He is often cited as a main member of the so-called New Complexity school, though he does not like the term. His transcriptions re-imagine or refer to the works of many composers, including Verdi, Grieg, Alkan and Gershwin. Other significant influences on his music are the folk music of many countries, the spontaneous style of Charles Ives, as well as many influences from outside music, such as the visual arts and in particular photography. Some of his works (e.g., the cycle 'Unknown Ground') also express his social and political concerns.^{[citation needed]}

Finnissy also became known for the political side of music, and he believes that all music is 'programmatic' to some degree, that is, a composition exists in not just the composer's mind, but inside a culture that reflects both the extra-musical and purely musical concerns of the composer. Music, far from being unable to express anything other than itself (as Stravinsky said) is a force for change. This engagement with political and social themes became more frequent as his career progressed. For example, the influence of homosexual themes and concerns began to enter his work; as in Shameful Vice in 1994, and more explicitly in Seventeen Immortal Homosexual Poets in 1997.^[2]

Orchestral music

• Eph-phatha (1989) 2.1.1.1-1.1.1.0-perc-hp-pno-str 13'
• Glad Day (1994) 2 (or recorders).0.0.0-0.2.0.0-hp (or theorbo)-chamber organ-str (min 4.4.2.2 (or bass violins).0) 13'
• Plain Harmony (1993) unspecified orchestral ensemble 12'
• Red Earth (1988) 3(III=picc).3.0.3-0.3.3.0-2didjeridus-4perc.2timpani-2 hp-str (min 10.10.8.6.7) 19'
• Speak its Name! (1996) 2.2.2.2-2.2.1.0-2vibraphones.timp-harp-¼ tone keyboard-strings (min 8.8.6.6.3) 22'

Chamber and instrumental music

• Bright Future ignoring Dark Past (2000) violin, cello, piano 3'30"
• Ének (1990) solo violin 9'
• Greatest Hits of all time (2003) oboe solo, picc.cl-pno-1perc-vla.vlc.cb 13'
• In stiller nacht (1990, rev. 1997) Independence Quadrilles (1995) violin, cello, and piano 7' & 5'
• Kulamen Dilan (1990) soprano saxophone [or oboe, or any clarinet] and percussion 10'
• Mars + Venus (1993) fl.ob.cl.bn-hn.tpt.tbn-perc-pno-2vn.va.vc.cb 15'
• Molly-House (2004) unspecified instrumental ensemble (players choose from a set of conventionally, and partially, notated parts alongside 17 'transcribed' Handel arias) variable duration
• Nowhere else to go (1989, rev. 2003) fl(+picc).cl(+bcl)-pno-vn.vc-tape 30'
• Obrecht Motetten I (1989) fl.cl.bn-tpt.tbn-perc-vn.va.vc 5'
• Obrecht Motetten II (1989) mandolin, guitar, and harp 10'
• Obrecht Motetten III (1989–93) viola solo or viola with ensemble: fl.cl.bn-2tpt.tbn-mandolin.gtr-hp 5'
• Obrecht Motetten IV (1990) brass quintet 14'
• Obrecht Motetten V (1992) fl(+picc).3ssax-hn.3tpt.3tbn-pno-cb 18'
• Plain Harmony (1993) string quartet 8'
• Post-Christian Survival Kit (2005) unspecified instruments or instrumental components, unspecified percussion, physical actions which inadvertently produce a sound c. 10'
• Recent Britain (1998) clarinet, bassoon, cello, and piano 25' ISBN 0-19-356450-5
• Seterjentens fridag (2003) hardanger fiddle or violin (either solo or with accompaniment for reed organ and piano, or either one (live or pre-recorded) and instrumental quartet) 7'
• Traum des Sängers (1994) clarinet, guitar, vibraphone, violin, viola, cello, and double bass 13'
• Two Scenes from "Shameful Vice" (1995) solo harp 6' not yet published
• Unknown Ground (1991) for baritone and piano trio
• Various Nations (1992) narrator and chamber ensemble: fl(+picc).cl-hn-perc-gtr-vn.vc 10'
• WAM (1991) piano and two unspecified treble instruments 15'

Keyboard music

• Collected Shorter Piano Pieces Volume 1 solo piano Mazurka Op 142 No 2 - Two Pasodobles - Autumnall - Freightrain Bruise - Kemp's Morris - Short but... - GFH - BS - Taja - Lylyly li - Pimmel - Strauss-Walzer
• Collected Shorter Piano Pieces Volume 2 solo piano Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man - Romeo and Juliet are Drowning - Mazurka Op 142 No 1- Vieux Noël - Svatovac - Terekkeme - Australian Sea Shanties (Second Set) - William Billings - Liz - Rossini - John Cage - There never was such hard times before - Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sind - Cibavit eos - Cozy Fanny's Tootsies - My love is like a red, red, rose - De toutes flours - How Dear to Me - Stanley Stokes, East Street 1836 – Note on Stanley Stokes - Sometimes I... – French Piano - New Perspectives on Old Complexity - ...desde que naçe... – Yvaroperas 1-4
• English Country Tunes (1977/rev.1982-1985) solo piano
• Folklore (1993-4) solo piano I: 12', II: 25', III: 20', IV: 16'
• Gershwin Arrangements (1975–88) based on melodies by George Gershwin (solo piano): How long has this been going on? - Things are looking up - "A Foggy Day" - Love is here to stay - They can’t take that away from me - Shall we dance? - They’re writing songs of love, but not for me - Fidgety feet - Embraceable you - Waiting for the sun to come out - Innocent ingenue baby - Blah, blah, blah - Boy wanted. Score ISBN 0-19-372639-4 (for copyright reasons, this score is not available for sale or performance in the USA)
• More Gershwin(1989–90) based on melodies by George Gershwin (solo piano): Limehouse Nights - Wait a Bit, Susie - I'd Rather Charleston - Isn't It Wonderful! - Nobody But You - Swanee - Dixie Rose - Someone Believes in You - Nashville Nightingale.
• The History of Photography in Sound (1995–2001)
  • 1. Le démon de l'analogie 25' - 2. Le réveil de l'intraitable réalité 15' - 3. North American Spirituals 20' - 4. My parents' generation thought War meant something 40' - 5. Alkan - Paganini 12' - 6. Seventeen Immortal Homosexual Poets 40' - 7. Eadweard Muybridge - Edvard Munch 25' - 8. Kapitalistisch Realisme (met Sizilianische Männerakte en Bachsche Nachdichtungen) 75' - 9. Wachtend op de volgende uitbarsting van repressie en censuur 12' - 10. Unsere Afrikareise 30' - 11. Etched bright with sunlight 25' - piano solo c. 320' (one of the longest non-repetitive piano pieces ever written)
• Is there any future for new music (2006)
• Tangos (1962–99) a collection of 23 short pieces solo piano 25 minutes
• Wee Saw Footprints (1990) nine short easy teaching pieces with a supplement solo piano 15'
• Four Organ Symphonies (2002–2009)

Stage works

• Shameful Vice (1994) 3 sopranos, tenor, baritone, bass 2 clarinets, 2 trumpets, harp, guitar, 2 violins, and double bass text by the composer, based on the last days of Tchaikovsky's life 40'
• Thérèse Raquin (1992-3) soprano, mezzo-soprano, counter-tenor, baritone, and piano stage work based on the novel and play by Emile Zola 90'
• The Undivine Comedy (1986-8) soprano, counter-tenor, tenor, 2 baritones 2 piccolos, 2 oboes, 2 percussion, violin, viola, and cello stage work based on the play by Zygmunt Krasiński 110'
• Mankind (2007–08) - written for St. Peter's School, Solihull. Baritone and Alto soloists, male actor, three boys voices, SA semi-chorus, SATB choir, large unison chorus (150+) + string trio, piano, organ and ripieno children's orchestra. Dedicated to Leah and Stephen Lansberry and first performed in Olton Friary September 2008 - conducted by Stephen Lansberry. Based on the 15th Century morality play of the same name

Bibliography

• Barrett, Richard. 1995. "Michael Finnissy: An Overview". Contemporary Music Review 13, no. 1:23–43.
• Bortz, Braziela. 2003. Rhythm in the Music of Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy, and Arthur Kampela: A Guide for Performers. Ph.D. Thesis, City University of New York.
• Brougham, Henrietta, Christopher Fox, and Ian Pace (eds.). 1997. Uncommon Ground: The Music of Michael Finnissy. Aldershot, Hants., and Brookfield, VT: Ashgate. ISBN 185928356X.
• Cross, Jonathan. 2001, "Finnissy, Michael (Peter)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers. Updated by Ian Pace, 26 May 2010, Grove Music Online, edited by Deane Root.
• Pace, Ian. 1996. "The Panorama of Michael Finnissy: I". Tempo, no. 196 (1996), 25–35.
• Pace, Ian. 1997. "The Panorama of Michael Finnissy: II". Tempo, no. 201 (1997), 7–16.
• Steenhuisen, Paul. "Interview with Michael Finnissy". In Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0888644749
• Toop, Richard. 1988. "Four Facets of the 'New Complexity'". Contact, no. 32:4–50.

References

1. ^ Cross 2001.
2. ^ Cross 2001.

External links

• Michael Finnissy's website
• Oxford University Press: Finnissy

Persondata
Name	Finnissy, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 March 1946
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death