1
EdwardGavitt
MusicSince2000
05/29/2017
MichaelFinnissy'sSecondStringQuartet(FinalDraft)
MichaelFinnissy'sSecondStringQuartet(2006-2007)juxtaposesastrictadherenceto
stringquartettraditionwithanardentdefianceofconventionalcompositionalpractice.
Finnissy'sregardforthetraditionisevidencedbyhisuseofJosephHaydn'sOp.64No.5(The
LarkQuartet)asamodel.Finnissyexplainsthatwhilepitchmaterialisnotalwaysutilized,he
alwaysconsidersthe"rhythmiccontexturalprofile"(i.e.rhythms,contours,shapes,and
gestures).
Conversely,Finnissy'sresistanceofconventionalcompositionalpracticeisindicatedby
thepiece'sabsenceofamasterscore.Heinsteadoptsforachanceapproachatpartalignment,
requestingperformerscueeachotheratdifferentsectionsfororientation.Attimes,
instrumentsarepairedinduetsorplayingindividualpartsalltogetherunifiedbyatempo,
althoughhespecifiesintheperformanceinstructions:"itisintendedthatthepartsshoulddrift
slightlyapart,anddefinitelynotseemcalculatedorrigidlyaligned."Despiteverycomplex
rhythmicvocabulary,Finnissyintendsfortherhythmstobemoregesturalthanprecise.He
continues:"...therhythmicnotationis'proportional'-sothat[thesixteenthnote]isfasterthan
[theeighthnote],butnotstrictlyintheratio1:2."Thereareonlytwosectionsinthepiece
meanttobemetricallyaligned:thesecondmovement(rehearsalmark6)andthethird
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movement(rehearsalmark24).Finnissy'sprimaryconcernwiththeabsenceofamasterscore
isavoidingrhythmiccoincidenceintheunalignedsectionsofthepiece.1
ThebiggestchallengeFinnissy'sSecondStringQuartetpresentsisthelargeamountof
generativematerialused.Finnissycitesmaterialbeinggeneratedthroughoutfrombirdsongs,
toHaydn'sLarkQuartet,Boulez'sLivrePourQuatuor,referencestofellowcomposerGloria
Coates,andrandomnumbergeneratorsonacomputer(Bayley).Muchofthisanalysisdeals
withfindingthesourcesofspecificsections,andhowthesesourcesaretransformedintothe
materialpresentinFinnissy'spiece.
FinnissyexplainsthatheadaptedeachmovementofTheLarkQuartetintoamovement
ofhispieceandworksbackwardsfromit(i.e.,Haydn'smovementIVcorrespondstoFinnissy's
movementI.Haydn'sMovementIIIcorrespondstoFinnissy'smovementII,etc.),whichwas
thentransformedinmanyways.Helaments,however,thathewasunabletoadaptHaydn's
firstmovementandadmitsthatitwassimplyduetolackoftime.Therearesixmajorsections
tothepiece,howevertwoofthesesectionsconsistoftransitorymaterial:thesenzatempo
sectionsatthebeginning,andbeforerehearsalmark24(Bayley).Despitethemany
transformations,hedoespreservedefiningcharacteristicsineachsectionthatpresentthe
dialoguebetweenHaydnandhimself.
1Finnissy'sscorespresentedinscoreformatinthisanalysisarecompiledfromindividualparts
3
Formoutline(rehearsalmarksarebracketed):
SenzaTempo-Opening
I-VivaceeStaccato-[0]
Adagiocantabile-[2]
Senzatempo:irregularandjumpy-[3]
Adagiocantabile-[4]
Vivace.Staccato(quasipizz)-[5]
II-Allegretto
Minuet-[6]
Codetta-[10]
Trio-[13]
SenzaTempo-[18]
III-AdagioCantabile-[24]
IV-Vivaceestaccato-[27]
SenzaTempoI
FinnissydescribesthesenzatempoinaninterviewwithmusicologistAmandaBayleyas
"akindofsound-action[he]washearing".Thepitchmaterialhereisremovedfromthepitch
materialgenerationthatconsumesmostofthepiece(andisexplainedlaterinthisanalysis).
Thissectionfunctionsinatwo-partcounterpointfashion.Thefirstviolinopenswithpitches
beamedindifferentdirections,signifyingtheseparationofmaterialintotwoseparate
contrapuntallinesinasingleinstrument.
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senzatempo,two-partcounterpointinoneinstrument
Thesecondviolinisaddedinthenextsystem,takingoveroneofthelines.Forthepurposeof
examiningthissection,thetwopartscanbesplitintotwoseparatestaves.
separationofbothstavesofthesenzatemposectionwithtetrachordpartitioning
Aninterestingcharacteristicaboutbothstavesisthatthetopstaffexcludespc10,and
thebottomclassexcludespc7.Thissectionconsistsofvariouslooselyrelatedpitchsetsthrough
fuzzytransformations.Thefirstandsecondsets,forexample,arefuzzyIrelatedtetrachords:
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(7e01),asc(0126)tetrachord,and(7890),asc(0125)tetrachord,arerelatedbyI8withanoffset
of1.Followingthat,tetrachords4,5,and6alsoarerelatedbyfuzzytransformations(although
4and6canbedirectlyrelated,bothbelongtosc(0137).Tetrachords(89e3)and(89e0)are
relatedbyT0withanoffsetof3(andthereforeshareasamedirectsubset).Tetrachords(89e0)
and(9134)arerelatedbyI0withanoffsetof3aswell,andset(89e3)transformstoset(9134)
byI0withnooffset.
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MovementI
.ThefirstmovementofFinnissy'squartetisbasedonthefourthmovementofHaydn's
Larkquartet.Thedefiningcharacteristichereisthedensityofthefirstviolinwhichisadapted
acrossthequartet.
Ontop:HaydnMov.IV,Bottom:FinnissyMov.Texturalsimilaritiesarehighlightedinthesamecolor(note:scoreisconstructedfromindividualpartsas
masterscoredoesnotexist)
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Finnissyclaimsthatthissectionservesasacatalystforthemajorityofthepitch
generationfortheentirepiece(Bayley).Finnissysectionsofffiftydifferentpitchgroupsin
rehearsalmark0and1,whichhecallspitchreservoirs,andusesacomputertorandomly
permutatethepitches.Hethenpermutatestheorderinwhichthesepartitionsappear,and
proceedstoeliminatethemarbitrarily.Thisprocesspreventsexactrepetitionwhenusingthe
samepitchmaterial.InUncommonGround:TheMusicofMichaelFinnissy,ChristopherFox
explains"theuseofrandomnumbersmeansthatthecharacterofthemusical'material'is
identifiedmorebystatisticalfeatures,ratherthanbyspecificthematicormotivicelements"
(Fox,156).
Thismeansitisseeminglyimpossibletodecipherwhichpermutationiswhich.
However,usingFinnissy'ssketchesforthissection,onecanatleastcataloguethepermutations
tofindsmallexamplesoftheirapplications.ThefollowingscoreisoneIbuiltfromindividual
partspastedtogether,andthepartitionsareFinnissy'sownfromsketchesforthecomposition.
IhavealsotakenFinnissy'ssketchesforthesepartitionsandmadethemeasiertoread.
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9
Finnissy'spartitionsforpermutationmaterialaccordingtosketches
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samplesofFinnissy'ssketches,leftisthepartitionedscoredIhavetranscribed,rightarethe"pitchreservoirs"usedforthetablebelow
Inhissketches,Finnissyidentifiesthesepartitionsasthegeneratorsforthe
permutations.Thepartitionsareorderedrandomlyforthepurposeofapplyingatransposition
series<-2,-1,1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-4,-3>.Permutatingtheorderofthe
partitionsensuresthatadjacentpartitionswillnotbeappliedadjacenttranspositions.The
orderofthepartitionsafterbeingpermutatedresultstobe:
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-2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 x49 4 35 7 16 10 21 5 27 21 29 13 34 26 50 30 37 15 6 44 31 19 43 20 x5 4 3 2 1 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 -1 -248 8 22 9 24 18 12 3 11 36 42 28 45 32 47 38 17 25 39 2 14 46 41 40 1
TranscribedtablefromFinnissy'ssketch.Rednumbersareappliedtranspositionsinsemitones,blacknumbersarepartitionnumbers
Finnissy'ssketchofthenumberedpermutationswithappliedtranspositionseries
ThistableshowsallthepartitionsFinnissyusesfromthepitchreservoirandthe
transpositionsheappliestothemintheabovesketch.Readingfromlefttoright:pitchreservoir
#49getstransposedtwosemitonesdown(orappliedaT10transposition),#4goesdownone
semitone(T11),andsoon.Thepartitionexcludes#33,whichmayormaynotbeintentional;
buttocompletingthepermutationtable,#33couldbeeitherfirstorlast,whichwouldmeanits
transpositionisaminorthirddown(T9).Belowisatablewithallcompiledinformationand
transpositionshavebeenapplied.
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1 2 E+ 2+ T 1+ 6+ T10 0 9+ 0+ 8 E+ 4+ 2 E- 7 5+ 5 1+ 7+ 9+ 9 T4 3- E 9+ 9 5+ E+ 1+ 1 3 4- 5+ E 4 5+ 1+ T 3 8 2- 5- T9 1- 2+ 8 1 2+ T+ 7 0 5 E- 2- 4 5 7+ 9+ 1+ E- 5 7+ 6 9 4 3 2 T11 4 6+ 8+ 0+ T- 4 6+ 5 8 3 2 1 5 8 4+ 2+ 5+ 2 8 0 0+ E T4 0 8+ 6+ 9+ 6 0 4 4+ 3 6 7+ T 1 E 0 5+ 2 T 1 9- T10 5+ 8 E 9 T 3+ 0 8 E 7- 7 8+ 2+ T E+ 5+ 3 4+ 7+ T2 10+ 4+ 0 1+ 7+ 5 6+ 9+ 8 E- 2- 4- 4 7 1+ 9+ E 2 3 E T4 3 5- 8- 8 E 5+ 3 6 7 3 9 5+ 7 1 0+ 9 T+ 7 T2 7+ 9 3 2+ E 0+ 9 10 9+ 7 0 5 E- 0+ 4 4- 2 E 9 T4 1+ E 4 9 3- 4+ 8 8- 6 3 1 11 9 T 9+ 2+ E 4 T4 1 2 1+ 6 3 8 12 3 5- 7 9 0 2+ 6 8+ 4+ T10 1 3- 5 7 T 0+ 4 6+ 2+ 13 9+ 5+ 5 0 9- 4- E T11 8+ 4+ 4 E 8- 3- T 14 7 T E 9+ 4+ 6 0+ 2 4 T11 6 9 T 8+ 3+ 5 E 1 3 15 8 5- 4 7 2 5 E- T 4- 0- 7 4 1 T9 4 2- 1 3 E 2 8- 7 1- 9- 4 1 T 16 2+ T E 0 3 2 7 5 9- T3 5+ 1 2 3 6 5 T 8 0- 17 9+ 5+ 4 8 9 T 2- 0 T3 0+ 8+ 7 E 0 1 5- 3 18 0+ T E+ 7+ 5 0 4- 8 2 5 2- E- 4 8 T11 E+ 9 T+ 6+ 4 E 3- 7 1 4 1- T- 3 7 19 5 T 7-1 E 5- 8 9 7+ 6 7 3 5- 8 9 T2 7 0 9- 3 1 7- T E 9+ 8 9 5 7- T E 20 4 2 E- 8 5- 2- 5 0 0+ T4 8 6 3- 0 9- 6- 9 4 4+ 21 3 4+ 6+ 5 4 E 2 1+ E+ 3 T2 5 6+ 8+ 7 6 1 4 3+ 1+ 5 22 2- 0 8 5- E- 2 4- 6 5 T3 5- 3 E 8 2- 5 7- 9 8 23 1 4- 0- 8 7- 0 4 6 E+ 9 2+ 1 T5 6 9- 5- 1 0- 5 9 E 4+ 2 7+ 6 24 E 2+ 4+ 6 9+ 1 3+ 0 T1 0 3+ 5+ 7 T+ 2 4+ 1 25 7+ 5 5+ 9 T 3 E E- 8 7 5 T4 E+ 9 9+ 1 2 7 3 3- 0 E 9 26 0+ 4 T 4+ 6 2+ 1 E+ 7 9- T 2 T9 9+ 1 8 1+ 3 E+ T 8+ 4 6- 7 E 27 4 0 4- 2 0+ 9 6 4 T3 7 3 7- 5 3+ 0 9 7 28 1 E+ 7 2 4- 6 4+ 9+ 9 T9 T 8+ 4 E 1- 3 1+ 6+ 6 29 8 9 5+ 3 E+ 9+ 7 0+ 8 2+ 4 T1 0 T 6+ 4 0 T+ 8 1+ 9 3+ 5 30 T 2- 0 9+ 7 5- 0- 1 3 7- T7 5 9- 7 4+ 3 0- 8 T 2- 31 6 8+ 5+ 1+ 9+ 1 2+ 3 T1 7 9+ 6+ 2+ T+ 2 3+ 4 32 8+ E- E 5- 2+ 9 4 0- T 8 0 T11 7+ T- T 4- 1+ 8 3 E- 9 7 E 33 8- 4- E 1+ E- 7+ 9+ 3 0+ 2 E 4 5 6 0 4- T9 5- 1- 8 T+ 8- 4+ 6+ 0 9+ E 8 1 2 3 9 1- 34 5+ 2+ 6 0 9- 7+ 9 1 T 7 9 8 T10 3+ 0+ 4 T 7- 5+ 7 E 8 5 7 6 35 2+ 6 T 7 E+ E+ 5+ T 8+ 2+ 5 3+ 0+ 9+ 7- 5- T1 3+ 7 E 8 0+ 6+ E 9+ 3+ 6 4+ 1+ T+ 8- 6- 36 4 1 7 E- 9 6 5 9 2+ 9 7 T7 E 8 2 6- 4 1 0 4 9+ 4 2 37 7+ E 9+ 1 E- 1 8 3 9+ 7+ 4 5- 6 T8 3+ 7 5+ 9 7- 9 4 E 5+ 3+ 0 1- 2 38 9 E E T E- 5+ 9 4 5 4- 1 E 8 T2 E 1 1 0 1- 7+ E 6 7 6- 3 1 T 39 5+ 2 E+ 3+ T+ 2+ 3 8 0- 5- 9 1 9+ 9 T5 T+ 7 4+ 8+ 3+ 7+ 8 1 5- T- 2 6 2+ 2 40 E- 4- 2 7+ 6 4 0 4- 5 0+ 6 T11 T- 3- 1 6+ 5 3 E 3- 4 E+ 5 41 2 9+ T 4+ 8+ 1 4 7 5+ T 5 T1 3 T+ E 5+ 9+ 2 5 8 6+ E 6 42 8 5 6 1 3 E+ E- 2- 4 T8 4 1 2 9 E 7+ 7- T- 0 43 0 E T 7- 8 7+ T 5- T3 3 2 1 T- E T+ 1 8- 44 0+ 3 8 4+ 1 6 3 7- 9+ 4 0 3 T T11 E+ 2 7 3+ 0 5 2 6- 8+ 3 E 2 9 45 2- 7 5 4- 0 E T10 0- 5 3 2- T 9 46 0+ 2 1 5 4- 0 T2 2+ 4 3 7 6- 2 47 E 4 6 9+ 0 3+ 6+ 3 8 7+ 5 T1 0 5 7 T+ 1 4+ 7+ 4 9 8+ 6 48 4- 2- 3 4 9 6 7+ 9+ 5 6+ 8 0 3+ 9+ 6 4+ 2 3 7 5- 9- 0
2- 8 T5 9- 7- 8 9 2 E 0+ 2+ T E+ 1 5 8+ 2+ E 9+ 7 8 T-
2- 5 7- 1 49 4 2 8+ E 5+ 7 9 5+ 4- 2 E- 7 5- 8 0+ 4 2+ T 5 9 9+ 0
1 3 7+ 4 T 4- T10 2 0 6+ 9 3+ 5 7 3+ 2- 0 9- 5 3- 6 T+ 2 0+ 8 3 7
7+ T E 1 5+ 2 8 2 50 2 5+ 7 9- 1 0- T 6 4 8 5- 6 7+ E 2 4 7 9- 1 6 5- 2 4-
E- E 0 E 2+ 5 8+ T+ 1 T8 T 1+ 3 5- 9 8- 6 2 04 1- 2 3+ 7 T 0 3 5- 9 2 1- T
0- 7- 7 8 7 T+ 1 4+ 6+ 9 tablecombiningpitchreservoirsandtranspositionseriesinascendingnumerologicalorder..+signmeansraisedbyquartertone,-signmeansloweredbyquartertone.Orderofthepitchesareirrelevant,andadheretoFinnissy'sorderingoftheminsketches.Pitchmaterialontheleftispresentedinstaffformin
Finnissy'ssketch,andpitchesontheleftaremytranspositions.
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Thislistnowdepictsasignificantdiscrepancy:Thepitchesinthetableandpitch
reservoirsdonotmatch.Partition1onthescoreandonthechartdisplaycompletelydifferent
contents.Forexample,thepitchreservoirsheetshows#1tohave6pitchesandthescore
partitionhas10(plusagracenotewhichmayormaynotcount).Finnissyexplainsthathetends
tousethesepitchreservoirsasbasicreferencepointsandtransformsthematerialwaybeyond
recognition,especiallyinrecapitulationmaterial.2AmandaBayley'sDVDEvolutionand
Collaboration,whichcontainsextensiverehearsalandsketchmaterial,pointsoutoneinstance
ofthepermutationstakingplace;however,itisinthevivaceandstaccatosectionofmovement
IV,sowillbementionedatalaterpointofthisanalysis.ItispossiblethatjustasFinnissyis
workingbackwardsfromHaydn'spiece,hemaybeworkingbackwardsincompositionalform
makingthefirstmovementa"recapitulation"ofthefourthmovement.Therefore,theideaof
permutationsinthissectionresultstobeinconclusive,butleavesuswithinformationtolook
forinfurthersections.
Havingdeterminedthatthepitchreservoirsprovideslittleinformation,weturnto
anotheridea:theborrowingofintervallicfragmentsfromHaydn'spiece.Finnissybeginsto
approachtheuseofHaydn'sactualpitchmaterial.Withregardstothepitchgenerationofhis
firststringquartet,Finnissysays"...intheStringQuartetIdecidedthatIwantedthelines,the
polyphony,toimplodeonitselfasmuchasconceivablypossible.Sovirtuallyallthemelodic
materialofthatpieceoccurswithintheintervalofaminorthirdorconsiderablyless(in
2Throughcorrespondence,Finnissyhassaidregardingthis:"Thepitch-reservoirsareonly“stufftobeused”.Isometimesremainfaithfultothem,sometimestheyaretransformed‘outofallrecognition’.Thereisnoconsistency,Ibalancewhatappearstobe‘Princetonintellectualityandserialism’withold-fashionedspontaneous‘jazzing’."
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quarter-tones)whichmakestheexplosionsofmorechromaticmaterialsomuchmore
dramatic"(Toop,9).Essentially,thisstringquartetworksinasimilarway,butwiththechoiceof
implodingwithintheframeworkofHaydn.
Ontop:HaydnViolin1Mov.IV,Bottom:FinnissyMov.I.green=2steps+1skip,yellow=skips,red=scalar,blue=sequence/repeatedpitches
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Theexamplesaboveshowpartitionsoffourorlesspitcheswithsimilartraitstopitch
groupsinHaydn'spiece.Thesepartitionsaremoresuitabletobreakingdownthissectionsince
theyrelatetothesourcematerial,anditisalsoeasytoseetheindividualpitches(oratleast
thecontours)beingpermutated.Forexample,lookingatthegreenpartitionswecanseethe
singleskipsindifferentpartsofthegroupings(beginning,middle,andend).Theskipsinthe
yellowgroupingsaredisplacedatrandomandcoverdifferentranges(anywherefromthirds,as
inthethirdyellowpartitionofviolin1,totenthsasinthefirstpartitionofviolin1).
Anotherseriesofpermutationsoccursinthissectionintherhythmicdimension.The
rhythmsarenotpermutationsofeachother,butareslightvariations.Finnissypointsoutatotal
ofthirtyrhythmsthathehasplannedtouseandpermutatestheorderingsohecanadaptthem
intothemusicatrandom.
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ã ≈ Rœ ˙ Jœ .œ œ œ œ œ1
ã ≈ Rœ Jœ œ . .œ ˙ œ œ ˙2
ã œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ .œ œ . .œ3
ã ≈ ® RÔœ œ œ .œ .œ œ Jœ .œ œ Rœ .œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ5:3œj
5:3œr.
3
4
ã ≈ ® Ù RÔÔœ œ œ ˙ œ . .œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ5
ã ≈ ® Ù œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ5:3œj
6
ã Jœ œ œ Jœ .œ œ œ . .œ œ œ .œ Jœ œ œ5:3œj
7
ã ‰ ‰ Jœ œ œ œ œ . .œ œ œ .œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ .œ5:3œj
5:3œj
3
8
MF StQt2 Rhythm Permutations
©
17
ã ≈ œ œ œ . . .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . .œ œ .œ œ .œ Jœ5:3œj 5:3œj
3:2œj9
ã œ œ .Jœ Rœ œ œ .Jœ Rœ œ œ œ6:5œj
10
ã .œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ3 3 3 3 8:5œj
3
3
11
ã .œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ .œ œ œ Jœ ‰ .œ œ ˙ œ œ œ Jœ œ7:5œj
12
ã ‰ ≈ Rœ œ œ œ Jœ ‰ .œ œ œ œ œ Jœ ‰ .œ Jœ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ3 6:5œj
13
ã œ œ rœ œ œ œ Jœ œ œ œ6:5œj
3
14
ã œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Jœ8:5œj
15
ã œ œ Jœ Jœ œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ16
ã ˙ ˙ .˙ œ ˙17
2 MF StQt2 Rhythm Permutations
1/3 2/3 2/3
18
ã ˙ ˙ ˙ Jœ ‰ œ ˙ Jœ œ œ œ8:5œj
18
ã . .œ Rœ ˙ ˙ .˙ œ œ œ œ œ6:5œ
19
ã ˙ Jœ œ œ œ .œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ .œ5:3œj
5:3œj5:3œj
20
ã œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ Jœ ˙ .œ œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ Jœ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ ‰ Œ5:3œj
5:3œj 5:3œj5:3œj
21
ã œ œ œ jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ jœ œ jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ .œ œ22
ã Jœ œ .œ œ œ œ .Jœ œ œ œ œ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ23
ã œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ jœ œ œ24
ã œ .œ œ œ œ Rœ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ11:7œr 9:7œr
25
ã œ œ .œ .œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ œ Rœ œ Jœ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ Jœ11:7œr
9:7œr
26
3MF StQt2 Rhythm Permutations
19
rhythmsdeterminedbyFinnissyinsketches,numbersbasedonhisordering
Applicationoftherhythmicpermutationsareeasiertofindthantheirpitch-based
counterparts,aseachrhythmhasindividualcharacteristicsthatstandoutmoresothanthe
pitches(forexample,seeingatupletof[5:3]narrowsdownchoicesfromthirtytosix).Starting
atsection2,Finnissybeginstoapplythesepredeterminedrhythmstothepiece.Therhythms
arenotpresentedliterally,buttheyutilizesimilarspacingandvaluesusedintherhythmlist
sketch.Additionally,hissketchesdetermineanorderfortherhythmstobeexecuted.Theorder
is:<6,9,27,21,30,18,13,19,10,28,15,2,11,14,7,23,4,5,8,12,24,17,1,20,16,22,25,3,
26>andexcludes#29.Belowisanexampleofthefirstviolinusingtherhythmspresented
above.
ã œ œ œ . .œ Rœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ .œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Rœ œ œ œ œ11:7œr
9:7œr3
27
ã .œ œœœœ .œ Rœ œœœ œ Rœœ .œ œœœœœ .œ œ œœœ .œ œœ œœ œœ .œ œ œ11:7œr 9:7œr
28
ã .œ Jœ œ œ œ œ Rœ ˙ œ29
ã œ œ œ .œ œ œ ˙ œ Jœ œ œ Jœ . .œ œ7:5œj
30
4 MF StQt2 Rhythm Permutations
1/3 2/3
20
exampleofapplicationofrhythmpermutations,withthebeginningoftheorderingmentioned,<6,9,27>
Atrehearsalmark3FinnissybeginstopresentsomeofHaydn'smaterial,whichhasyet
tobeusedasidefromthemacro-levelshapingtheentirepiece;thecellopartcombinesHaydn's
pitchmaterialwithoctavedisplacementsanddifferentrhythmswhileusingBoulezian
articulations(somethingpresentincompositionssuchasLivrePourQuatuor,inwhicheach
pitchalsohasanassignedarticulation).
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Finnissy'scellopart(inbassclef)displacesandaddsrhythmstothepitchesinHaydn'scellopartofmovement2.
UtilizingmaterialfromHaydn'ssecondmovementservesasagreatwaytoforeshadowFinnissy'sthird
movement,whichusesHaydnmaterialthemostandservesasaclimaxpointofthepiece.
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MovementII
MovementIIbeginswithanadaptationofHaydn'sMovementIII.Thissectionutilizes
Haydn'srhythmiccontent,butatadiminutionof1:2(quarternotesbecomeeighthnotes).
Ontop:HaydnMov.III,Bottom:FinnissyMov.II.Texturalsimilaritiesarehighlightedinthesamecolor,gracenotesalsoserveasasharedelementand
arecircled
23
Finnissycontinuestousethepitchreservoirsinthissectiontogeneratepitchmaterial.While
difficulttomapout,thereisatraceofpitchreservoir#13atthebeginningofthissectioninthe
firstviolin.
beginningofFinnissy'sMov.II,rehearsalmark6
Finnissyappliesadifferenttranspositionandroundsoffmicrotonalvariants
predeterminedinthepitchreservoirandtranspositiontablepresentedearlierinMovementI.
Thepitchesin#13(inmod12integernotation)are[9+5+509-4-E]andifthemicrotonal
notesareroundedtotheirnearestsemitone:[T65083E].Thepitchesinthescoreexample
aboveare[586T3851].Withouttranspositions,thisleavesallbuttwopitchesunaccounted
forandonecanpossiblybeattributedtoerror.Finnissyadmitsthattheremaybecareless
errorswhenmovinganobjectfromthepitchreservoirtostaff.3ItispossiblethatFinnissy
ignoredthekeysignaturepresentinthissection,soC#ispresentinsteadofC.
3FromcorrespondencewithFinnissy:"Ialsomakealotofcarelessmistakes,andifthisgetsabetterresultthanthepredictableone,guesswhichIkeep?"
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SenzaTempoII
Thissectionfunctionsastransitorymaterial.Finnissydescribesitasanhomageto
composerGloriaCoatesandtheKreutzerQuartet.4Thesenzatempoconsistsofaseriesof
ascending8thtonesinaslowandopentempo,leadbycuesfromtheperformers.
beginningofFinnissy'ssection18,senzatempo
Thissectionisfairlystraightforwardsincethepitchesmostlyascendchromaticallyin
eighthtones.Therhythms,althoughspecified,aregesturalandfreetobeslightlyreinterpreted
bytheperformers.Itmightbenoteworthytoobservetherangescoveredanddistancetraveled
ofallinstruments.
4ThepiecewaswrittenfortheKreutzerQuartet.TheKreutzerQuartethasalsoperformedandrecordedallstringquartetsbyCoates,whichisFinnissy'sconnectiontoboth.
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rangeanddistancemovedinallfourpartsinthesenzatempo
Intheimageabove,thestartingpitchofeachinstrumentispresentedfirst,followedby
theendingpitchbeforerehearsalmark24.Threeinstrumentshaveaparenthesizedpitch;these
pitchesappearinthemiddleofthesectionandeither"dropdown"totheparenthesizedpitch
orareasecondpitchthatistobeaddedasadyadtothecontinuingascendingpitch.Linesand
numbersrepresenttherangeanddistancecovered,andthenumbersaretheamountsofsteps
ormovementsineighthtonesthatmayberequiredtoascendtosaidpitch.Therefore,thetrue
rangeofeachinstrument,ifapplicable,isthenumberandlinefromthetoppitchtothe
parenthesizedpitcheswhicharebelowthestartingpitches.
26
MovementIII
ThethirdsectioninFinnissy'spiece,whichbeginsatrehearsalmark24,borrows
extensivelyfromHaydn'ssecondmovement.
comparisonofmovementIIofHaydn'squartet(top)andmovementIIIofFinnissy'squartet(bottom).Texturalsimilaritiesarehighlightedinthesamecolor
27
TheshapeoftheviolalineinFinnissy'spieceisdirectlyadaptedfromHaydn'sfirstviolin;
however,FinnissydiscardsthepitchmaterialandconductshisowntransformationofHaydn's
material.Finnissy'swritingisrathertonalinthissection,butlimitedtotheindividuallinesas
theverticalitiesdonotsupportatonalargument.Healsodoesawaywiththepitchreservoir
andoptstoborrowmostofthepitchmaterialfromHaydn.
Intheexampleabovecomparingscoresfrombothpieces,notethefirstviolin's
resemblancetoHaydn'spieceincontourandrhythm.Howeverthepitchmaterialisquite
different;insteadofreplicatingthepitchmaterial,Finnissymovesthecontourarounddifferent
keys.BelowisanexampleofthefirstfewmeasuresofthissectionandIhavehighlighted
differentkeysthatarebeingtraversed.Finnissyintroducessomemicrotonalpitches,whichto
himfunctionasvariantsonthe12-tetpitches.5
red=Cminor(melodicascending)collection,Blue=Cdiatoniccollection,Green=F#diatoniccollection,Yellow=Abdiatoniccollection
FinnissythendistributesgesturespresentinotherinstrumentsinHaydn'spieceintothe
threeremaininginstrumentsofhispiece.InHaydn'spiece,thesecondviolinandtheviolamove
mostlyinstepwisecontrarymotion;Finnissyadaptsthisintohistwoviolins.
5Theyareleftoutofthehighlightedareaduetotheintonation,despitethempossiblybeingpartoftheassigned"key".ItissimplyanarbitrarydecisionItook.
28
exampleofbothviolinsinbothpieceshighlighted:literalpitchmaterialadaptation
ThefirstviolininFinnissy'spiece(highlighted)recyclestheexactpitchmaterialpresent
inHaydn'sviola.Thesecondviolin,however,takesanapproachclosertotheoneusedbythe
violainFinnissy'spiece.WhileutilizingaverysimilarcontourtoHaydn'spiece,thepitch
materialisdifferentalthoughmostlydiatonic.ItispredominantlyderivedfromtheAbdiatonic
collection,alsobrieflypresentintheviolapart,withsomeextraneouspitches:BnaturalsandA
naturals.ThesepitchesfirstserveasneighboringtonestoaBb,butthenappearinstepwise
motionhintingatadescendingDdiatoniccollection.
29
Additionally,thereisaninterestingrhythmicadaptationofHaydn'smaterial.Finnissy
usestheexactrhythmicvaluesinthesecondviolinandviolafromHaydn'spiecebutaugments
themindifferentratios.
rhythmcountinHaydn'sMov.IIandFinnissy'sMov.III(violinIontop,violinIIonbottom)
Thevaluesofeachrhythmin8thnotesare:quarternotes=2,dottedquarternotes=3,
andwholenotes=4.TherhythminHaydn'spiece,withtheselectionabovebeingusedasan
example,is<2223111242(2)(2)(1)11111...>forthefirstfivemeasures(parenthesized
numbersarerests).Ifthesevaluesaredoubled,theresultistherhythminFinnissy'sfirstviolin
(stillthepatterndescribedabove)butthesubdivisionvalueisnowquarternotes.Thesecond
violinusesanaugmentationof1.3x,sothebasesubdivisionisnowthedottedeighthnote.This
lastsforthreemeasuresbeforethepatternisinterruptedandskipsthe<24222>values.It
thencontinuesthepatternattheseriesof1's,buttheunderlyingvaluehaschangedandnow
becomesthequintupletquarternote.
30
ThecellopartinFinnissy'spiecemorecloselyresemblesHaydn'swork;therhythmand
pitchmaterialareleftintact,excepttransposeddownamajorthirdtoF.Thisonlylastsfora
shortwhileuntiltheflattedfifthofthekeygetsintroducedasarepeatedpitch(circledin
example),whichdoesnotappearinHaydn'spiece.
Circled:deviationfromHaydnreference
MovementIV
Thelastsection,beginninginrehearsalmark27isa"recapitulation"(atleastin
temporalorder).Thedensityofthevivacereappearsinthetwoviolins.Thissectionreusesthe
pitchreservoirsfromMovementsIandII,andinhissketchesFinnissyprovidesuswithone
exampleofwherethepermutationsareinuse.
Finnissyopenssection27usingpitchreservoir#19.Heutilizesthetransposition
presentedinthetablesketch,whichis+2semitones(orT2).Belowisacomparisonofthepitch
reservoirmaterialandthesectionofthescoreusingthepitchreservoir.Thepitchreservoiris
essentiallypresentedinretrogradeformwiththeexceptionof3pitches(circledandconnected
intheexample).
31
ViolinopeningofVivaceestaccatosectioninrehearsalmark27inrelationtopitchreservoir19
Thethemeofrandompermutationsdoesnotlastlongasthematerialhererapidly
becomesmorerandom,whichisonlypossiblebyreturningtomaterialfromtheopeningsenza
tempo.
Inthissectionboththeviolaandcellohave7staveslabeledAthroughG,andFinnissy
givesthemthelibertyofplayinganylinetheywant,atanytime,inanytempo,withany
articulations,whichallowsverycontrolledimprovisationwiththematerialgiven.
32
exampleoflinesEofviolaandcelloofFinnissymov.IV
Thelinesinbothinstrumentsarerelated;forexample,EintheviolaandEinthecello
aregeneratedfromthesamematerial.TheviolaappliesaT3transpositionandpresentsthe
materialinretrogradetoproducethecellomaterial.Allpartsarerelatedbutnotallletters
match(exceptforlinesE,presentedhere).
Conclusion
Finnissy'sstringquartetsarestunningwaystobeintroducedtohismusic.TheSecond
StringQuartetwaswrittenover20yearsafterhisfirststringquartetanditutilizesmany
compositionaltechniquesthatFinnissyexercisedthroughouthiscareer.
ThisanalysisdidnotdiscusstheaestheticsinFinnissy'smusic.Finnissyisgenerally
lumpedintothe"NewComplexity"categoryofcomposerswithotherfiguressuchasBrian
Ferneyhough,ChrisDench,andJamesDillon.However,Finnissy'smusicbearslittleresemblance
totheworksofthesecomposers.Theuseoftupletsandirrationalmetersaretheextentof
33
theirsimilarities.Theirmannerofgeneratingpitchiscompletelydifferentandtheiraesthetic
preferencesarealsowidelydistinctive.Finnissyismoreconcernedwithadaptingtechniques
fromothermusicalsourcesandfieldsintohismusic.Forexample,hispieceHistoryof
PhotographyinSoundwhichintegratesphotographytechniquesintoaspectsofthemusic.This
contrastswithFerneyhoughwhoismoreconcernedwiththemeta-complexityofthepiece,and
howthatmayaffectperceptionandperformance.Meanwhile,Finnissyisconcernedwith
aestheticsinawaythatnoneoftheother"newcomplexity"composersare,andthis
definitivelysetsFinnissyapartfromothercomposersinthisstyle.
34
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