Ross Lee Finney (December 23, 1906 – February 4, 1997) was an American composer who taught for many years at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Life and career

Born in Wells, Minnesota, Finney received his early training at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and also studied with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

, Edward Burlingame Hill,

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

(from 1931 to 1932) and

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...

(in 1935). In 1928 he spent a year at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and then joined the faculty at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, where he founded the Smith College Archives and conducted the Northampton Chamber Orchestra.Leslie Bassett, "Program Notes," 1966 Festival of Contemporary Music The University of Michigan School of Music, Nov. 2-9, 1966, Ann Arbor, Michigan In 1935, his setting of poems by

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

won the Connecticut Valley Prize, and in 1937, his ''First String Quartet'' received a Pulitzer Scholarship Award. A

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

funded travel in Europe in 1937. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Finney served in the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

, and received a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

and a

Certificate of Merit The Certificate of Merit Medal was a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military decoration of the United States Army that was issued between the years of 1905 and 1918. The Certificate of Merit Medal replaced the much older Cer ...

. In 1948, following a second Guggenheim Fellowship, Finney joined the University of Michigan faculty. There he was the founder of the University of Michigan Electronic Music Studio in 1965 and composed the score for the sesquicentennial celebration of the University of Michigan in 1967. He retired in 1974. Finney's works were presented at the 1965 Congregation of the Arts at the Hopkins Center of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, and for the 1966 Festival of Contemporary Music at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Finney collected many honors, including membership in the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

, honorary membership in

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

and an honorary doctorate from Carleton College. His "Second Symphony" represented the United States at the 1963 Rostrum of International Composers at UNESCO headquarters at Paris. According to the notes for the Composers Recordings, Inc. recording of Finney's Cello Sonata No. 2 (about 1953), Chromatic Fantasy In E for solo cello (1957) and Piano Trio No. 2 (1954), he received the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

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 in 1950 with his String Quartet No. 6 (a work which uses serial principles but is "in E" on the score), his next composition after the sonata. For his students Finney died on February 4, 1997, at his home in Carmel, California. He was 90.

Music

He wrote eight

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

s, four symphonies as well as other orchestral works, other chamber works and songs. In his later years Finney composed a series of works exploring the nature and experience of memory, which combined serial organization as well as quotations of folk and popular music: ''Summer in Valley City'' (1969) for concert band; ''Two Acts for Three Players'' (1970) for clarinet, piano, and percussion; ''Landscapes Remembered'' (1971) for chamber orchestra; ''Spaces'' (1971) for orchestra; ''Variations on a Memory'' (1975) for chamber orchestra; and ''Skating Down the Sheyenne'' (1978) for band. Finney composed the dance scores ''Heyoka'' (1981), ''The Joshua Tree'' (1984), and ''Ahab'' (1986) for Erick Hawkins, and in 1984 completed his first

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, ''Weep Torn Land'', to his own libretto.

Selected worklist

*Concertos **For violin and orchestra (No. 1, 1933, revised 1952; No. 2, 1973) **For piano and orchestra (No. 1, 1948; No. 2, 1968) **For percussion and orchestra (1965) (Commissioned by

, to be performed by the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

.) **For alto saxophone and wind orchestra (1974) *Orchestral works **Spaces (1971) **Four symphonies (1 "Communiqué 1943", 2,Symphony 2 written in 1958 according to the NYPL Ross Lee Finney Collection 1938-86, see References. 3, 4Symphony No. 4 Premiered in May 1973: ) **" The Nun's Priest's Tale" (for solo voices, chorus and chamber orchestra) (1965)(Commissioned by the Hopkins Center at

) *Chamber music **Eight string quartets (the 7th from 1955) **Three violin sonatas (1934 in C minor) **Two cello sonatas (no. 1 from 1941,See NYPL finding aid, which has many composition dates 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) **"Three Studies in Fours," for four percussionists, 48 percussion instruments (1965) (Commissioned by the U.S. Consul at Poznan) **String quintet (published 1966) **Quartet for oboe, violoncello, percussion and piano (1979) *Song cycles **"A Cycle of Songs to Poems by Archibald MacLeish" **"Chamber music", to words by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

**"Poor Richard," to words by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

**"Three 17th Century Lyrics," to words by

Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

**"Three Love Songs," to words by

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

**"Still are New Worlds," to words by

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (; ; 11 February 1657 – 9 January 1757), also called Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, was a French author and an influential member of three of the academies of the Institut de France, noted especially for his ...

Henry More Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonists, Cambridge Platonist school. Biography Henry was born in Grantham, Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of ...

, Mark Akenside, and Jean-Pierre Camus (1963) (Commissioned by the University Musical Society for the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Hill Auditorium. *Other **"Spherical Madrigals" (1947) **"Christmastime Sonata" (mid-1940s) **"Pilgrim Psalms" (mid-1940s) **"Organ Fantasies" (5) **"24 Inventions" (for piano) **"Variations on a Theme by Alban Berg" (for piano)(1952)

Books

*1947 - ''The Game of Harmony''. New York: Harcourt, Brace. *1958 - ''Analysis and the Creative Process''. Claremont, California: Scripps College. *1991 - ''Thinking about Music: The Collected Writings of Ross Lee Finney''. Frederic Goossen, ed. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. *1992 - ''Profile of a Lifetime: A Musical Autobiography''. New York: C.F. Peters.

Notes

Sources

University of Michigan Record Obituary
* in th
Music Division
o
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
(includes guide to correspondence with Eugene Ormandy regarding premieres of symphonies 2 and 3, etc.)
Ross Lee Finney collection sound and video recordings, 1938-1986.
in th
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
o
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Contains information not found in the above PDF finding aid.
Notes to a 1976 and 1981 recording of works by William Bolcom and Ross Lee Finney
(available as a Google Cache) * Kozinn, Allan. "Ross Finney, 90, Composer Of the Modern and Lyrical" ''New York Times'' (February 7, 1997

External links

Ross Lee Finney Papers, 1916-1996
Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Ross Lee Finney Papers, ca. 1960s-1980s
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

July 5, 1986 {{DEFAULTSORT:Finney, Ross Lee 20th-century American classical composers 1906 births 1997 deaths American male classical composers Pupils of Alban Berg Pupils of Edward Burlingame Hill Pupils of Roger Sessions University of Michigan faculty People from Wells, Minnesota 20th-century American male musicians