It gives me faith in humanity that this channel is so popular. I haven't seen B Ferneyhough since a Huddersfield contemporary music festivsl back in the day.
Loved the remarks on the difference between writting small passages and writting genuine fragments, actually producing discontinuity! The critical comments on Boulez and American serialism were also spot on... With regards to Webern, I personally love to see how he struggles to remain connected to a traditional conception of form, while using materials that are both unsuited for that and spring from tradition itself!
Had a brief stint studying some Fernyhough at university but never really dug deep into it. But from watching this podcast, Fernyhough's humility, wisdom, pragmatism, and drive for music's greater potentials is very clear. A living legend and an inspiration to all other creators out there. Thank you.
I am pleased that you have resurfaced on my internet, not without some hiccuoghs . I got this interview but was unable to save it to look at later when I have more time.- so I looked for Andreyev uploads where I found and saved it. I heard some remarks about humour at the beginning. I agree entirely with Thomas Mann that art is a higher form of joke (Juex). Alfred Brendel wrote an essay entitled "Is humour possible in music?" My title would be "Is music. possible without humour?" Even in very soulful pieces there is the inside knowledge of its being a ficition. Schumann's favourite author , Jean Paul, thought all metaphysics was based on humour. Giving advice to a young composer, Schumann wrote, "I advise you to study Bach and Beethoven the two greatest and most humorous composers." "Great" and "humour" were synonyms. I am very impressed by Ferneyhough's music and will come back to this.
Just to say... it seems quite like Ferneyhough is ponctuating his speak with some sort of shaker! ...excellent conversation by the way! Thank you so much for this!
I think that this conversation was so enjoyful for Maestro Ferneyhough that eventually he would have continued for much longer! Thank you so much for sharing with us this wonderful interview and for doing it in such a great way, thank you!
I was interested to hear Brian's comments about the place of creative composition in university departments. This debate goes back many years in the UK to the formation of the Arts and Humanities Research Board. I remember taking part in several public discussions about whether creative artistic work in any media could be legitimately described as "research" and therefore eligible for funding from the ARHRB. I, and a few others argued that it was not, and that funding for such activities ought to come from bodies such as the Arts Council which were specifically charged with the financial support the creative arts. But such a view was not in the majority and those who who believed musical composition and other creative work did "count" as research won day. Thus the present situation was established where to get your PhD in composition you have to justify it with acres of sometimes somewhat bogus theoretical analysis. When I took my PhD I very deliberately did not offer composition, but a study called "The Changing Role of the Composer in Society". The resulting book was published in 2003.
Amazing that you got to interview Ferneyhough Samuel. I would like to contribute with Spanish subtitles again, but I don’t see the feature available. Keep it up!
I picked up on the cue from Ferneyhough and found the Ensemble Modern's recent 40-composer concert here on TH-cam. Totally worth it - very enjoyable. Oddly, in that context, George Benjamin's relatively straight presentation of Stille Nacht was the most shocking and radical thing I heard.
It has become a cliche in zoom meetings during pandemic times: the bookshelf obviously conveys meaning. To me, it says "I am an intellectual, look at my huge library"
@Disqus Menisqus It could be that or not. A house has many rooms. Why not have the zoom meeting in the kitchen ? That would be creative for a composer. I bet Rossini would do it if he were alive!
Great informative interview, and first time I've ever heard him explain the pieces. I hear plenty of his musical influence in Frank Zappa's orchestrations, but FZ never gave him credit as an influence and never mentioned his name once.
Ferneyhough's Top 5: 48:22 1. Thomas Tallis 2. Claudio Monteverdi 3. Jean Sibelius 4. Edgar Varese 5. ???? I'm trying my best to follow what he says when he is speaking about his 5 favourite composers, but seems like I'm missing one.
@@juliusseizure591 Unfortunately, if you do not understand 'how so' (!) the expression "holy shit" (sic) is firstly a rather ghastly expression but more germanely, entirely redundant as a means of describing Ferneyhough, than I am afraid you never will...
Samuel. Question not related to this wonderful conversations Opera from England probably pre eighties .heroine is an older woman ,who courted royalty ,rich friends. Now facing life as an older woman ,living in the past Any ideas which opera ,or composer ?
thanks for the great interview. In the video you mention a guitar concerto, but I can't find informations about it anywhere. Is the score or a recording aviable somewhere? Maybe I misunderstood? Edit: I think I found it... Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabriel
Thank you, Noah. That is an excerpt of the 4th movement of my piece Strasbourg Quartet, which you can find on my 2018 release Music with no Edges (available on Spotify, etc and from Kairos Records, Vienna)
Thanks for the question. I really dislike the Beach Boys, sorry to say. And I have listened repeatedly and carefully to their entire catalogue (including the Sea of Tunes bootleg series).
@@samuel_andreyev Thank you for your response, I dont happen to be any particular fan of the beach boys either, pet sounds has quite the reputation for being what it is of course, just a curious question haha.
@@samuel_andreyev I do find a few songs on that album to be captivating enough, but I think I'm of the same opinion, I've sometimes felt like I'm not seeing the big picture with that album just by the sheer praise it receives. Thank you for sharing your thought.
It's fascinating to hear this interview. I don't mean to sound offensive, but the sentences are so vague and they go so little in detail, that he could theoretically talk about any piece and it would still somehow fit. I find it interesting his use of aleatoric compositional techniques, but somehow I find that sometimes instead of saying: "The piece is works well because of the instrumention", you say: "The piece has an interesting plastic sonority/aspect that re-energizes the piece." I mean, at one point Ferneyhough talks about "Energy balls" and "Quanta" (??) You didn't even question him what the hell he means by those (musical!?) terms that he just invented out of nowhere... I mean... well, apparently intelectuals like this... I learn much more from your (concrete) analysis of the work than this vague, generic talk that could literally apply to any piece like you're reading the horoscope in an magazine. Thank you for the interview, I´m a big fan of your channel.
What is odd is Boulez played a singular role id formation of IRCAM and his role at Darmstadt two places Ferneyhough frequented. No Boulez ... how could Ferneyhough have gotten along?... Boulez remains an institutional builder as well as a visionary... there is that quote from Picasso in Gertrude Stein about others can make things pretty (see below) Ferneyhough’s merit concentrates on tasking via structures which output personalized performance. He drills down into the topic of perspective notation. In either case Boulez or Ferneyhough they hover in the space as any music composer without any clue on tool-use in terms of what the performer brings, that is, tools orienting to one’s biology For I wouldn’t be here if not for reading and playing both “What did you think of what you saw, asked Miss Stein. Well I did see something. Sure you did, she said, but did you see what it had to do with those two pictures you sat in front of so long at the Venissage. Only that Picasso's were rather awful and the others were not. Sure, she said, as Pablo once remarked, when make a thing, it is so complicated making it that it is bound to be ugly, but those that do it after you they don't have to worry about making it and they can make it pretty.” NB
I fear he is being somewhat disingenuous regarding the shadow cast by Stockhausen. It's obvious that, like many of his generation, he never fully "recovered" from hearing Gruppen, Zeitmaße, the Klavierstücke etc.
@@theethanatorem Nevertheless, always in life you know if something intended to be humorous, I can tell a bad joke which you might not find funny, but you know it's a joke and it meant to be. (I was making a different point)
The most anticipated interview since God spoke to Moses
It gives me faith in humanity that this channel is so popular. I haven't seen B Ferneyhough since a Huddersfield contemporary music festivsl back in the day.
Could honestly listen to Brian talking forever
It is incredible that you got to interview Ferneyhough. Thanx so much for this. His words are so useful, so meaningful. Well done for all your work.
I know! I once emailed him when I was in grad school asking about his process regarding rhythm. Needless to say, I never got a response. lol
@@felixp7 I'd give it another try. This is a quieter time.
Loved the remarks on the difference between writting small passages and writting genuine fragments, actually producing discontinuity! The critical comments on Boulez and American serialism were also spot on... With regards to Webern, I personally love to see how he struggles to remain connected to a traditional conception of form, while using materials that are both unsuited for that and spring from tradition itself!
Had a brief stint studying some Fernyhough at university but never really dug deep into it. But from watching this podcast, Fernyhough's humility, wisdom, pragmatism, and drive for music's greater potentials is very clear. A living legend and an inspiration to all other creators out there. Thank you.
Amazing. That you can present a legendary composer's psyche and mindset to us. Love this video. Thank you.
I am pleased that you have resurfaced on my internet, not without some hiccuoghs . I got this interview but was unable to save it to look at later when I have more time.- so I looked for Andreyev uploads where I found and saved it. I heard some remarks about humour at the beginning. I agree entirely with Thomas Mann that art is a higher form of joke (Juex). Alfred Brendel wrote an essay entitled "Is humour possible in music?" My title would be "Is music. possible without humour?" Even in very soulful pieces there is the inside knowledge of its being a ficition. Schumann's favourite author , Jean Paul, thought all metaphysics was based on humour. Giving advice to a young composer, Schumann wrote, "I advise you to study Bach and Beethoven the two greatest and most humorous composers." "Great" and "humour" were synonyms. I am very impressed by Ferneyhough's music and will come back to this.
Just to say... it seems quite like Ferneyhough is ponctuating his speak with some sort of shaker! ...excellent conversation by the way! Thank you so much for this!
A very fine interview. Two of my happiest memories as an under and post-grad were listening to him talk in Huddersfield and Manchester.
This is so great, thank you for this!
Fascinating.
I think that this conversation was so enjoyful for Maestro Ferneyhough that eventually he would have continued for much longer! Thank you so much for sharing with us this wonderful interview and for doing it in such a great way, thank you!
Yes, he was only just warming up!
It is debatable, but imo bad video is better than no video. Thanks for the content, Samuel.
How is this a bad video? Can you explain?
@@yagiz885 the (minor) latency issues with the video but we've all become fairly accustomed to this kind of thing during the covid pandemic.
Amazing interview. Ferneyhough is just the best.
Oh, such a good coincidence. I'm currently working on "Lemma-Icon-Epigram" in order to record it!
@@cliffpinchon2832 don't worry, it's a Russian
and im working in write one quartet for strings :)
My favorite of his works!
That was great. Thanks Samuel.
excellent !!! thank you very much.
Thank you for this, what a wonderful encounter!
Woo! What a great meeting!
Thanks so much for publishing this interview. I've already listened to it at least three times and keep learning more!
HELL YEAH! a very recent interview with ferneyhough
Fantastic interview.
Fantastic interview! Thank you for this!
So excited to watch this!
Late Ferneyhough turning to Ligeti, nice to see and being critical of serialism. A man after my own heart.
Great interview, thanks Samuel!
I was interested to hear Brian's comments about the place of creative composition in university departments. This debate goes back many years in the UK to the formation of the Arts and Humanities Research Board. I remember taking part in several public discussions about whether creative artistic work in any media could be legitimately described as "research" and therefore eligible for funding from the ARHRB. I, and a few others argued that it was not, and that funding for such activities ought to come from bodies such as the Arts Council which were specifically charged with the financial support the creative arts. But such a view was not in the majority and those who who believed musical composition and other creative work did "count" as research won day. Thus the present situation was established where to get your PhD in composition you have to justify it with acres of sometimes somewhat bogus theoretical analysis. When I took my PhD I very deliberately did not offer composition, but a study called "The Changing Role of the Composer in Society". The resulting book was published in 2003.
Can’t wait to watch this!
Amazing that you got to interview Ferneyhough Samuel. I would like to contribute with Spanish subtitles again, but I don’t see the feature available. Keep it up!
Puede mostrar subtítulos en español con la traducción automática de Google.
I picked up on the cue from Ferneyhough and found the Ensemble Modern's recent 40-composer concert here on TH-cam. Totally worth it - very enjoyable. Oddly, in that context, George Benjamin's relatively straight presentation of Stille Nacht was the most shocking and radical thing I heard.
I couldn't find it! Would you mind pasting a link? thanks!
@@zeracosaitam2677 I can't find it now, either. It looks like they must have removed it, which is really unfortunate.
@@zeracosaitam2677 I looked some more, and finally did find it. Enjoy!!
th-cam.com/video/aF4vDy3qb_I/w-d-xo.html
Amazing
Wonderful interview with two brilliant musical minds. Would love to see an interview with David Matthews or Sir James MacMillan!
Nice but I reckon you need more books in the background 😉
Composers in front of bookshelves.
It has become a cliche in zoom meetings during pandemic times: the bookshelf obviously conveys meaning. To me, it says "I am an intellectual, look at my huge library"
@Disqus Menisqus It could be that or not. A house has many rooms. Why not have the zoom meeting in the kitchen ? That would be creative for a composer. I bet Rossini would do it if he were alive!
It was either that or the john. I have a small apartment and many books.
@@samuel_andreyev 😂 ok, thanks for the contextual information!
@@violetavalery do you go out of your way to move your desktop out of view of your bookshelf, alternatively
Great informative interview, and first time I've ever heard him explain the pieces. I hear plenty of his musical influence in Frank Zappa's orchestrations, but FZ never gave him credit as an influence and never mentioned his name once.
happy samuel in the thumbnail :)
Fantastic interview. Have you thought about interviewing James Dillon, or analyzing one of his works?
Yes, I'd like to do that, schedule permitting.
The quality of the audio makes me anxious.. I like it. 🙄
dooope
The real star of the show is the infinite bookshelves
They were ready for their close-ups.
Ferneyhough's Top 5: 48:22
1. Thomas Tallis
2. Claudio Monteverdi
3. Jean Sibelius
4. Edgar Varese
5. ????
I'm trying my best to follow what he says when he is speaking about his 5 favourite composers, but seems like I'm missing one.
I'm not a good english speaker but it looks like BIRTWISTLE, then Jonathan HARVEY.
@@avantapres1582 I'm not sure, but I think he said that regarding which contemporaries he liked.
Very interesting. I would like the talk to have been ilusitrated with examples.
Glen Gouldberg would have someone's right arm to listen to Ferney.
Ferneyhough!? Holy shit that’s exciting!
What a dreadful expression in this context.
@@LiteratureTodayUK How so?
@@juliusseizure591 Unfortunately, if you do not understand 'how so' (!) the expression "holy shit" (sic) is firstly a rather ghastly expression but more germanely, entirely redundant as a means of describing Ferneyhough, than I am afraid you never will...
@@LiteratureTodayUK A "rather ghastly expression"? Please, don't make me laugh.
This is a valuable comment. He is the subject of idolatry.
Samuel. Question not related to this wonderful conversations
Opera from England probably pre eighties .heroine is an older woman ,who courted royalty ,rich friends. Now facing life as an older woman ,living in the past
Any ideas which opera ,or composer ?
Any opinion on the music of Harold Meltzer ?
thanks for the great interview. In the video you mention a guitar concerto, but I can't find informations about it anywhere. Is the score or a recording aviable somewhere? Maybe I misunderstood?
Edit: I think I found it... Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabriel
W o w
This is great.
Would it be possible for you to add time markers referencing the questions in the description?
What am I, your mother? PS thank you
right.
Thank you for this! Absolutely fantastic interview. Out of curiosity, what is the piece played during the outro?
Thank you, Noah. That is an excerpt of the 4th movement of my piece Strasbourg Quartet, which you can find on my 2018 release Music with no Edges (available on Spotify, etc and from Kairos Records, Vienna)
What do you think about Pet Sounds? Ever think about doing an analysis video on any of those songs?
Thanks for the question. I really dislike the Beach Boys, sorry to say. And I have listened repeatedly and carefully to their entire catalogue (including the Sea of Tunes bootleg series).
@@samuel_andreyev Thank you for your response, I dont happen to be any particular fan of the beach boys either, pet sounds has quite the reputation for being what it is of course, just a curious question haha.
Well, I think Pet Sounds is vastly overrated. But, other peopke seem to adore it, so I'll probably not address it in a video :)
@@samuel_andreyev I do find a few songs on that album to be captivating enough, but I think I'm of the same opinion, I've sometimes felt like I'm not seeing the big picture with that album just by the sheer praise it receives. Thank you for sharing your thought.
@@samuel_andreyev It would be interesting to know why you really dislike Pet Sounds but really like Van Dyke Parks' music.
The central question may be how the flat earth evolves into a trout mask.
Am I the only one who hears Ferneyhough's recent works like ordinary classical music?
I don't know that any of it exactly qualifies as 'normal', but it is certainly getting more accessible!
@@samuel_andreyev thanks for answer
Aren't their musical ideas classical?
@@machida5114 I think it kinda becoming accessible for sure, his quite recent piano work El Rey de Calabria seems tonal, easy, calming
@@achoikomposition indeed
Samuel
Do you ever advise in improvisation and if soo ,what would be cost of two or three conversations ?
send an email please to samuel (dot) andreyev (at) gmail (dot) com
Who is the “profoundly nasty composer” mentioned at 53.10?
Harrison Birtwistle
It's fascinating to hear this interview. I don't mean to sound offensive, but the sentences are so vague and they go so little in detail, that he could theoretically talk about any piece and it would still somehow fit. I find it interesting his use of aleatoric compositional techniques, but somehow I find that sometimes instead of saying: "The piece is works well because of the instrumention", you say: "The piece has an interesting plastic sonority/aspect that re-energizes the piece." I mean, at one point Ferneyhough talks about "Energy balls" and "Quanta" (??) You didn't even question him what the hell he means by those (musical!?) terms that he just invented out of nowhere... I mean... well, apparently intelectuals like this... I learn much more from your (concrete) analysis of the work than this vague, generic talk that could literally apply to any piece like you're reading the horoscope in an magazine.
Thank you for the interview, I´m a big fan of your channel.
28:15 😍
Sense Noah anticipating the Dove
Yeah....נחםעכוחעניחכענירקחהדטךפתמען
What is odd is Boulez played a singular role id formation of IRCAM and his role at Darmstadt two places Ferneyhough frequented. No Boulez ... how could Ferneyhough have gotten along?... Boulez remains an institutional builder as well as a visionary... there is that quote from Picasso in Gertrude Stein about others can make things pretty (see below)
Ferneyhough’s merit concentrates on tasking via structures which output personalized performance. He drills down into the topic of perspective notation.
In either case Boulez or Ferneyhough they hover in the space as any music composer without any clue on tool-use in terms of what the performer brings, that is, tools orienting to one’s biology
For I wouldn’t be here if not for reading and playing both
“What did you think of what you saw, asked Miss Stein. Well I did see something. Sure you did, she said, but did you see what it had to do with those two pictures you sat in front of so long at the Venissage. Only that Picasso's were rather awful and the others were not. Sure, she said, as Pablo once remarked, when make a thing, it is so complicated making it that it is bound to be ugly, but those that do it after you they don't have to worry about making it and they can make it pretty.”
NB
The greatest composer of the 20th century.
I disagree
who is your favourite?
@@toliodor8769 Schoenberg!
He is the Bach of contemporary music.
His atonal expressionist works (op10-op24) is the bible of contemporary music.
Mmmmmmmm... energy balls
???????????????????????????????????
Who?
I fear he is being somewhat disingenuous regarding the shadow cast by Stockhausen. It's obvious that, like many of his generation, he never fully "recovered" from hearing Gruppen, Zeitmaße, the Klavierstücke etc.
Do you have a time stamp for this part of the interview? Thanks
His music is extream but absolutely not humorous, it might come across as such because humor is often extreme and those two can be confused
As often with life, what is seen as humorous to some is not seen as such by others.
@@theethanatorem Nevertheless, always in life you know if something intended to be humorous, I can tell a bad joke which you might not find funny, but you know it's a joke and it meant to be. (I was making a different point)
Foremost living composers? No - the correction designation is FRAUD.