Search - Michael Finnissy, Nicolas Hodges :: Michael Finnissy: Etched Bright with Sunlight

Compelling music by a noted Finnissy advocate

Bruce Hodges | New York, NY | 01/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the hottest composers around, Michael Finnissy has a huge body of work that is being increasingly covered by eloquent musicians all over the world. Nicolas Hodges has given us an insightfully assembled and beautifully played collection of Finnissy's pieces that might well be an ideal introduction to the composer's unique sensibility.



The striking cover is a painting done by filmmaker Derek Jarman of the irises of his eyes after he was blinded by AIDS, which needless to say makes the CD's title more than a little piercing. This title track might also be the highlight of the recording. Just one section of a larger work called The History of Photography in Sound, "Etched" is a vast landscape that releases its secrets and beauty after repeated listening. I also like "Snowdrift" and "Free Setting," the latter with a somewhat unorthodox structure. Throughout the recording, Hodges plays these pieces with a refreshingly straightforward approach, complementing Finnissy's sometimes almost romantic washes of sound.



Metronome's sonics are excellent, accurately capturing the quieter, more intimate moments as well as Hodges' powerful renderings of Finnissy's complex barrages. One of the best of a number of recent recordings of a composer whose stature will only increase."