Brian Ferneyhough (1943-Present)

Introduction
Ferneyhough is a British composer who is a central figure of the New Complexity movement. He was born in Coventry and was primarily trained at the Birmingham School of Music. He was written everything ranging from solo works to opera.

Work Analysis
I chose to analyze Ferneyhough’s String Quartet No. 2. This piece uses 64th notes in the beginning and uses that rhythm as a common theme throughout the piece. Ferneyhough slowly introduces the other instruments of the quartet. He starts with one violin, adds a second, and then the viola comes in. Lastly, comes the cello.

Comparisons
This reminds me of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, not a string quartet. Rhythmically, this piece created tension throughout and that is what Rite of Spring does. I never really knew where this piece was going or where Ferneyhough was going to lead us to as a listener.

Observations
This was not a favorite piece of mine. Ferneyhough’s writing seemed to be too much for me to follow along to and I could not really find anything beautiful about the piece. This is probably one of the least favorite pieces I have listened to.