# Michael Finnissy



## Morimur

*Michael Finnissy* (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer and pianist.

http://www.michaelfinnissy.info/



> Finnissy has taught at the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Sussex, and is currently Professor of composition at the University of Southampton
> 
> Finnissy 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. -Wikipedia


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Surprised that a guestbook hasn't been made already! Such a wonderful composer for piano. Here's a concerto....


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## Guest

Yeah, just about the best living pianist-composer I can think of.


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## Mandryka

What do you Finnissy fans think of the third quartet? Are there musical quotations hidden in it? I think I can hear some -Beethoven, Ferneyhough - but I'm not sure. And what's them birds about? I mean, why birds? And the scale - is it too long? Is there a political (green?, new age druid? ) idea in there? Is it queer in some way?

And the recording, the Kreutzer Quartet. Is it just me who thinks they're charmless, monochromatic? (I feel the same about Ian Pace's recordings - he doesn't do History of Photography any favours IMO, though it may well be well executed for all I know.)


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## starthrower

Will be listening to his 3rd piano concerto as soon as I get my Darmstadt Aural Documents box.


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## Mandryka

I've been listening to Bk 2 of the Verdi Transcriptions. Does anyone know what those three "fragments" are about? What operas are the pieces in BK 2 responding to? The long final piece is an outstanding piece of music.


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## Guest

If I remember correctly, the long final piece is from Don Carlos.

PS: Stick with the Chigur (sp?) av, Lope!


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## Guest

Anyone have a preference of recording for the Gershwin arrangements? I want to get one, and I see Nicolas Hodges has now recorded the stuff too. I feel like Nicolas Hodges might have a bit more rep in some areas, but Ian Pace seems like a safe bet given all his other Finnissy recordings, including other big cycles.

I've listened to them a bit on youtube. A stark contrast from the Verdi Transcriptions, which explore vocalizations and their subtle dissonances quite a bit more.


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## Mandryka

nathanb said:


> Anyone have a preference of recording for the Gershwin arrangements? I want to get one, and I see Nicolas Hodges has now recorded the stuff too. I feel like Nicolas Hodges might have a bit more rep in some areas, but Ian Pace seems like a safe bet given all his other Finnissy recordings, including other big cycles.
> 
> I've listened to them a bit on youtube. A stark contrast from the Verdi Transcriptions, which explore vocalizations and their subtle dissonances quite a bit more.


I couldn't get on with the music, though I should like to go back to it someone says it's good music and I've missed something. Ot just seemed tired and conventional compared with the Verdi and Folklore and the Country Tunes.


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## composingmusic

There's something really interesting in the Verdi and Country Tunes in particular, imo - a really interesting tension between a sense of flexibility that Finnissy creates through very precise notation. I also found this to be the case in his transcription of _My Love is like a red red rose_, which I've performed as a pianist.

I've played in some of his ensemble pieces as well - there's one in particular that comes to mind, called _Judith Weir,_ which is for two instruments, and is asynchronous. This piece is also quite interesting - it creates a sense of flexibility that you'll find in Finnissy's other work, but is less precise about how said flexibility is achieved. By flexibility, I mean that it sounds flexible, and there's a very specific type of flow that Finnissy achieves in his notation (at least in my opinion, I perceive this to be the case).


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## Mandryka

_My love is like a red red rose_ is an attractive piece. It reminds me of James Clapperton's music.


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## Mandryka

Anyone here enjoy History of Photography? I feel defeated by it, maybe because of the sound of Ian Pace’s CD, I don’t know.


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## Bwv 1080

Mandryka said:


> Anyone here enjoy History of Photography? I feel defeated by it, maybe because of the sound of Ian Pace's CD, I don't know.


Never did anything for me either, but just figured I dont like Finnessy, as I like Ian's playing of other composers


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## Mandryka

Bwv 1080 said:


> Never did anything for me either, but just figured I dont like Finnessy, as I like Ian's playing of other composers


But there is more than one Finnissy - the MF of Country Tunes is not the same animal as the MF of History of Photos. He turned.


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## composingmusic

Mandryka said:


> But there is more than one Finnissy - the MF of Country Tunes is not the same animal as the MF of History of Photos. He turned.


Agreed - there's an underlying character of sounding like Finnissy, but there's differences between the types of writing found in Country Tunes vs History of Photography in sound, or even the piano concertos… I also think some of the ways he's approached things like the Gershwin or Verdi or some of his ensemble work is quite different too. There's a versatility here, even though it does all sound like Finnissy imo.


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## Mandryka

This is a long 2021 piece.






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