by Ben Hogwood

Today marks the 80^th birthday of the composer Michael Finnissy.

I spoke with Michael earlier this month, in an interview to be published on the Presto Music site shortly, but have put together a varied selection from his output as a kind of ‘starter pack’.

Do give it a try – there is a great deal going on in his music, but I can promise you that your efforts will be rewarded, with a style of ‘Englishness’ that is complementary to Vaughan Williams, Holst and Britten but is also completely different. Listen and see what you think!

You can listen to Arcana’s Finnissy playlist on Tidal

Published post no.2,829 – Tuesday 17 March 2026