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Metier

Michael Finnissy: Organ Works

Modern Virtuosic Dark Dramatic Contemplative
$25.99

Details

Composer
Michael Finnissy
Artist
Forrest Eimold
Format
CD
Label
Metier
Released
Oct 10, 2025
Catalog #
MEX77208
UPC
809730720826

About

Ahead of the 80th birthday of one of Britain's most singular compositional voices, this double album presents the complete organ works of Michael Finnissy a body of music as rich in intellectual depth as it is in imagination. Performed with careful nuance by acclaimed American organist Forrest Eimold, these works span over six decades and chart the evolution of a composer constantly challenging himself to think beyond presumed forms. At the heart of the collection are Finnissy's four Organ Symphonies: bold, searching works that pay homage to and wrestle with the legacies of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler, while also evoking the French organ tradition of Vierne and Widor. "Why even write a Symphony?" Finnissy asks in a personal note for this release. "To explore and learn. To challenge oneself with the abiding presence of awe-inspiring history... to locate a rhetoric which fearlessly approaches the 'higher world of knowledge.'" From the youthful drama of ... ere the set of sun...  (written as incidental music for MacBeth in 1965) to the industrial solemnity of Blackburn (2022), the album presents not just a body of work but a kind of inner autobiography. The Hymn-Tune Preludes - transformations of Sacred Harp and Norwegian folk melodies - offer a striking contrast: intimate, harmonically volatile, and unhitched from convention. Even the earliest works here, like the student piece Xunthaeresis, reveal the seeds of a language already driven by risk and complex expression. Forrest Eimold, a formidable interpreter of 20th and 21st century keyboard music, brings dazzling technique and interpretive depth to this music. His command of registration, colour, and pacing allows each piece - from the vast landscapes of the symphonies to the epigrammatic preludes - to speak with clarity and conviction. Recorded on a range of instruments, including the organ of the UK's Blackburn Cathedral, this is a release release which anchors Finnissy's contribution to the organ repertoire as one of bold imagination and philosophical depth. It also continues Metier's retrospective celebrations for Finnissy's 80th year, with further releases to follow.

Tracklist 16 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 Organ Symphony No. 1 22:05
    Track
    1
    Title
    Organ Symphony No. 1
    Duration
    22:05
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  3. 2 I. — 02:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    02:29
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  4. 3 II. — 03:04
    Track
    3
    Title
    II. —
    Duration
    03:04
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  5. 4 III. — 05:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    III. —
    Duration
    05:28
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  6. 5 IV. — 02:08
    Track
    5
    Title
    IV. —
    Duration
    02:08
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  7. 6 V. — 05:17
    Track
    6
    Title
    V. —
    Duration
    05:17
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  8. 7 VI. — 04:34
    Track
    7
    Title
    VI. —
    Duration
    04:34
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  9. 8 VII. — 02:37
    Track
    8
    Title
    VII. —
    Duration
    02:37
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  10. 9 Organ Symphony No. 2 18:13
    Track
    9
    Title
    Organ Symphony No. 2
    Duration
    18:13
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  11. Disc 2
  12. 1 I. Largo 08:21
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Largo
    Duration
    08:21
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  13. 2 II. Prestissimo-frenetico 03:37
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Prestissimo-frenetico
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  14. 3 III. Andante 01:57
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Andante
    Duration
    01:57
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  15. 4 … ere the set of sun … 02:49
    Track
    4
    Title
    … ere the set of sun …
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  16. 5 Xunthaeresis 05:20
    Track
    5
    Title
    Xunthaeresis
    Duration
    05:20
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  17. 6 Blackburn 13:51
    Track
    6
    Title
    Blackburn
    Duration
    13:51
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold
  18. 7 Organ Symphony No. 4 32:44
    Track
    7
    Title
    Organ Symphony No. 4
    Duration
    32:44
    Composer
    Michael Finnissy
    Performer
    Forrest Eimold