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Ross Lee Finney

 
Music Encyclopedia: Ross Lee Finney

(b Wells, mn, 23 Dec 1906). American composer. He studied with Boulanger (1927-8), with Sessions at Harvard (1928-9) and with Berg in Vienna (1931-2), and has taught at Smith College (1929-48) and the University of Michigan (1949-). His music is strongly propelled and, from 1950, rooted in serialism: his large output includes four symphonies (1942, 1958, 1960, 1972), concertos, quartets and choral music.



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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, Donald Bohlen, Robert Ashley, Robert Morris, Richard Toensing, Stephen Chatman, Rolv Yttrehus, Robert Cogan and Philip Krumm.

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.


Contents

Selected worklist

  • Concertos
    • For violin and orchestra (1933, revised 1947)
    • For saxophone and orchestra (1976)
    • Two Piano concertos (one in 1949)
    • Concerto for percussion and orchestra (about 1965)
  • Orchestral works
    • Spaces
    • Four symphonies (1 "Communiqué 1943",2[1], 3[2], 4[3])
  • Chamber music
    • Eight string quartets
    • Three violin sonatas (1934 in C minor[4], ?, 1957)
    • Two cello sonatas (no. 1 from 1941[4], 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)
  • Other
    • "Spherical Madrigals" (1947)

Notes

  1. ^ Symphony 2 written in 1958 according to the NYPL Ross Lee Finney Collection 1938-86, see References.
  2. ^ Possibly 1960? See OCLC 79181590. Premiered in 1964 - also see the NYPL References.
  3. ^ Symphony No. 4 Premiered in May 1973: "List of Boston Symphony Premieres" (PDF). http://www.bsomusic.org/res/pdfs/presskits/organizational/7_BSO_WORLD_PREMIERES_07_08.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-14. 
  4. ^ a b See NYPL finding aid, which has many composition dates

Sources

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.



 
 
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Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
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