Chris Finlayson

Biography

I am a self-taught composer, who generated a large body of juvenilia during my school/GCSE/AS music years (early 1990s). I have had sporadic experiences as an amateur musician, playing violin/viola at school level and as a singer during my grad-student years at Cambridge. 

I rediscovered music and composition as a result of the Covid lockdown circumstances beginning from March 2020. Reconstructed juvenilia (1991 to 1995 approx) are all collected within the Op.1 compendium. These include realisations of my entry portfolio for the BBC Young Musician of the year competition in 1992. New original compositions are numbered from Op.2 onwards.

My style is conservative eclectic, with a fluid approach to tonality, modality and motific development, and with interests in classical structures and formalisms. Early influences include the Second Viennese School, Bruckner and Shostakovich; however, later pieces reveal influences as diverse as Havergal Brian, Robert Simpson, Martinu, and Bartok.  

All the realisations in YouTube and Soundcloud are with the (excellent) Sibelius Ultimate and NotePerformer softwares. However, I'd be delighted to hear from anyone wanting to attempt performance or recording of these works!