Description
Michael Finnissy was born in Tulse Hill, London in 1946 and studied at the Royal College of Music. He later studied in Italy with Roman Vlad. He went on to create the music department of the London School of Contemporary Dance, and has been associated as composer with many notable British dance companies. He has also been musician in residence to the Victorian College of the Arts, the City of Caulfield in Australia, and the East London Late Starters Orchestra. In 1999 he was made Professor of Composition at the University of Southampton. Finnissy has been featured composer at the Bath, Huddersfield and Almeida festivals, amongst others, and his works are widely performed and broadcast worldwide. Recordings are available on various labels, notably NMC and Metier; the latter has released a cycle of CDs to great critical acclaim.
This work for solo organ is based on the piece submitted by Finnissy for his Royal College of Music audition, which was scored for solo voices, organ and orchestra, after Mahler’s model. The original work was microtonal; although the microtones have been removed, some of the eccentric pitch-spelling has been kept, as has the original structure.
