What makes a specific quality or quantity of innovation retain its intense newness over the years? Brian Ferneyhough More Quotes by Brian Ferneyhough More Quotes From Brian Ferneyhough When I left Europe in 1987 I did so with the thought that my relevance as a composition teacher would benefit from a certain cool distance to certain tendencies I had been observing for several years with increasing disquiet. Brian Ferneyhough distance teacher years Actually, most things I say in public lead more or less directly to my own compositional practice, so I should be careful about generalizing lest they come back to haunt me. Brian Ferneyhough be-careful should practice Naturally enough, I couldn't have foreseen the vast sea change which has come upon that scene as a result of German reunification and associated events. Brian Ferneyhough events enough sea Composers dialogue - and obsessively, bitterly argue - with other composers, often over the span of several centuries. Brian Ferneyhough composer century arguing Certainly being in California has encouraged a sustained commitment to rethinking the nature, purposes, and relevance of the contemporary arts, specifically music, for a society which by and large seems to manage quite well without them. Brian Ferneyhough california commitment art I don't like listening to my music, not even new pieces. Generally, they sound pretty much like I expected them to sound, so it's what I wanted, and that's it. Brian Ferneyhough pieces sound listening The past nine years in San Diego have represented such a period of questioning. Brian Ferneyhough san-diego past years This was possible only by dint of extended periods of frequently quite painful reflection and digestion. Brian Ferneyhough digestion pain reflection I'm perplexed, though, by your application of the term 'negative' to my figural imagery. Brian Ferneyhough though your application negative Other composers have taken this particular technique much further than I in the meantime, with the result that the Law of Diminishing Returns has begun to apply. Brian Ferneyhough than result technique law Why, in such a case, should the performer essay any sort of considered approach at all? Brian Ferneyhough essay why any approach My own position is, that it is largely up to the work itself to suggest the nature of these referential points without dimensions in and through the processes by which the distance between them is maintained. Brian Ferneyhough distance my-own nature work I am certainly not arguing for the de facto autonomy of the individual work, even though there is much to be said for making the attempt to see it in that light as one facet of the reception process. Brian Ferneyhough i-am see light work With respect to the respective French and German traditions you are no doubt correct, although I am reluctant to see individual achievement reduced to archetypes. Brian Ferneyhough i-am you respect achievement
