Research Catalog

Title

Ross Lee Finney papers, 1916-1996, 1926-1996 (bulk)

Author

Finney, Ross Lee, 1906-1997.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Borroff, Edith, 1925-2019.
• University of Michigan. School of Music.

Description

25 linear ft. (34 boxes)

Summary

The Ross Lee Finney papers consist of 25 linear feet of material dating from 1916 to 1996, including correspondence, clippings, programs, photographs, and scores.

Subjects

• Music teachers
• Composers
• Music teachers > United States > 20th century
• Correspondence
• Borroff, Edith, 1925-2019
• Composers > United States > 20th century
• Scores
• University of Michigan > School of Music
• Clippings
• Lecture notes
• Programs
• Finney, Ross Lee, 1906-1997

Genre/Form

• Clippings.
• Correspondence.
• Lecture notes.
• Programs.
• Scores.

Source (note)

• Finney, Ross Lee

Location of Other Archival Materials (note)

• Sound recordings contained in the Ross Lee Finney papers have been separated to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound; *L(Special) 98-16.

Biography (note)

• American composer and teacher, Ross Lee Finney (b Wells, MN, 23 Dec. 1906; d Carmel, CA, 4 Feb. 1997) was the son of intellectual parents; his father was a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Call Number

JPB 04-15

OCLC

NYPT04-A36

Author

Finney, Ross Lee, 1906-1997.

Title

Ross Lee Finney papers, 1916-1996, 1926-1996 (bulk)

Biography

American composer and teacher, Ross Lee Finney (b Wells, MN, 23 Dec. 1906; d Carmel, CA, 4 Feb. 1997) was the son of intellectual parents; his father was a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. He began playing and composing music as a child, learning cello, piano and guitar. Finney retained an interest in the guitar and folk music throughout his life and folk song and melody were important elements in his music. His first rigorous music courses were at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where he studied with Donald Ferguson. He received a B.A. from Carleton College in 1927, after which he traveled to Paris to study composition with Nadia Boulanger. Finney's other teachers were Edward Burlingame Hill (1928-29), Alban Berg (1931-32) and Roger Sessions (1935), with whom he enjoyed a long friendship.

Finney joined the faculty of Smith College in Massachusetts in 1929. He was awarded Guggenheim and Pulitzer fellowships in 1937, and from 1943 to 1945 he served in the Office of Strategic Services in France, where he sustained combat injuries and received a Purple Heart. He won a second Guggenheim Fellowship in 1947. In 1949 he was appointed professor of music and composer-in-residence at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he remained until his 1972 retirement. There, Finney attracted many students who went on to become important composers, including George Crumb, Roger Reynolds, and William Albright. Finney continued composing through the mid-1980s.

Finney's music was tonal and melodic while sometimes employing serial technique, particularly after 1950; he lectured and wrote about the evolution of his style and his continuing interest in tonal resources. He was also interested in setting poetry to music. In the course of his career he composed for many musical settings, including soloists, chamber groups, choirs, wind ensembles, orchestras, opera and dance. His output was prolific and his music was performed often in his lifetime, both at the University of Michigan and by major orchestras and chamber groups around the country. He frequently served as a guest artist and lecturer at Universities and symposia and wrote about composition and music education for both children and advanced students.

Indexes

Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Sound recordings contained in the Ross Lee Finney papers have been separated to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound; *L(Special) 98-16.

Connect to:

Request Access to Music & Recorded Sound Division Special Collections material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Composers.

Music teachers.

Added Author

Borroff, Edith, 1925-2019.

University of Michigan. School of Music.

Research Call Number

JPB 04-15