Ross Lee Finney (1906–1997) is undoubtedly not the best-known American composer, and yet! He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1927 for his first string quartet (he composed eight in total), and his catalog is quite extensive, even though he devoted most of his life to teaching (at the University of Michigan, where he founded an electronic music studio in 1965).
The album covers a decade, from 1962 to 1973, a golden age for the development of contemporary music. The program opens with Three Pieces — Strings, Winds, Percussion, and Tape. Less than 10 years after Edgard Varèse’s Déserts (1954), in which “electronic interpolations” were placed between the instrumental parts, mixed music had already developed considerably. In Canada, for example, Serge Garant composed Nucléogame in 1955, a piece in which the tape blends perfectly with the instrumental ensemble (wind sextet and piano). This is also the case here, but with a full orchestra, a very dynamic percussion section, and energetic writing. It is a powerful work and another superb proof that electronic and symphonic music can blend beautifully. Finney’s discography is not extensive, and it seems that this is a first recording (although the booklet does not mention it); a fine discovery and, above all, another coup for the BMOP, which is racking them up.
Landscapes Remembered (1971) is a piece for small ensemble whose theme revolves around memory and nostalgia (the composer’s nostalgia for his hometown). It is, he tells us, the flip side of his piece Summer in Valley City (the city in question), which refers to lighter memories. It is also a piece for which Finney did not wait for a sponsor; “My work was written because I wanted to write it.” It is not the strongest work on the disc, but it complements the other two well.
Finney’s fourth (and final) symphony is very lively, very urban, with a few Varèse-esque accents. A few moments of calm are scattered throughout the three movements, as if to give the listener a chance to catch their breath. This rollercoaster of a program keeps you on the edge of your seat. Ross Lee Finney’s first three symphonies were recorded by Robert Whitney with the Louisville Orchestra, and it makes you want to go and see what it’s all about.
