"I would not say that I was, these days, a 'student' of philosophy, although in my youth I was quite deeply involved with certain aspects of the British pragmatists"
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Ferneyhough’s modest little sidestep - “I would not say that I was, these days, a ‘student’ of philosophy” - is doing real cultural work. In new-music circles, “philosophy” can function like an honorific: a way to imply that complexity is not just technical but metaphysically justified. By refusing the label, he resists the easy prestige of sounding “deep,” while still leaving the door open to intellectual seriousness. The scare quotes around “student” are the tell: he’s skeptical of identity-as-brand, especially the kind that turns composers into thinkers-by-proxy.
Then comes the pivot: “although in my youth…” This isn’t a renunciation so much as a careful chronology. Philosophy is framed as formative, not ongoing credential. That matters with Ferneyhough, whose music is famously dense and often treated as if it requires a theoretical passport to be legitimate. He’s subtly re-centering authority in practice: compositional decisions emerge from making, not from constantly checking them against a worldview.
The nod to “certain aspects of the British pragmatists” narrows the claim further. Pragmatism isn’t a system-builder’s paradise; it’s anti-grand-theory, suspicious of absolutes, oriented toward consequences and use. That’s a pointed alibi for a composer associated with intricate method: the complexity isn’t a cathedral of ideas, it’s a toolset, tested in sound. He’s also signaling taste - British pragmatism over continental glamour - as if to say: spare me the metaphysical fog; I’m interested in what works, what holds, what happens when the notes hit the air.
Then comes the pivot: “although in my youth…” This isn’t a renunciation so much as a careful chronology. Philosophy is framed as formative, not ongoing credential. That matters with Ferneyhough, whose music is famously dense and often treated as if it requires a theoretical passport to be legitimate. He’s subtly re-centering authority in practice: compositional decisions emerge from making, not from constantly checking them against a worldview.
The nod to “certain aspects of the British pragmatists” narrows the claim further. Pragmatism isn’t a system-builder’s paradise; it’s anti-grand-theory, suspicious of absolutes, oriented toward consequences and use. That’s a pointed alibi for a composer associated with intricate method: the complexity isn’t a cathedral of ideas, it’s a toolset, tested in sound. He’s also signaling taste - British pragmatism over continental glamour - as if to say: spare me the metaphysical fog; I’m interested in what works, what holds, what happens when the notes hit the air.
Quote Details
| Topic | Student |
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