Michael Finnissy’s work with Grieg’s unfinished Piano Quintet is nothing short of astounding. This page serves as a sort of ‘reverse diary’ of the development of this astonishing work-one great composer in conversation with another!
November 13th 2012-a first edit
A fantastic day working with engineer Jonathan Haskell on the first of the two movements-Michael’s continuation of Grieg’s unresolved exposition into a fabulous 30 minutes of colour and drama.
Grieg/Finnissy-Piano Quintet Movement. Kreutzer Quartet (Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Mihailo Trandafilovski, Morgan Goff, Neil Heyde), Roderick Chadwick-Piano, (musical supervision-Michael Finnissy)
Recording Finnissy-Grieg -Quintet 16th June 2012-Steyning
Just having finished day one of recording this miraculous communication between composers across the century. What a privilege to be part of this.
Edvard Grieg – Completed Michael Finnissy- Piano Quintet (outtakes)Kreutzer Quartet with Roderick Chadwick. Engineer-Jonathan Haskell, with the composer wonderfully in charge!

Mihailo Trandafilovski (Kreutzer Quartet) with Roderick Chadwick (Piano), Michael Finnissy, and composer Peter Dayton
Michael Finnissy-‘Grieg Quintettsatz’
Kreutzer Quartet
Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Mihailo Trandafilovski, Morgan Goff, Neil Heyde
Live at Wilton’s Music Hall 10th June 2008
Recording courtesy of Colin Still (optic nerve )
LINK-Grieg Quartet Op 27-same concert!
Composer to Composer-Michael Finnissy on his completion of Grieg’s Piano Quintet
SOUNDBOX 10-6-2008 Royal Academy of Music Museum
Kreutzer Quartet
Roderick Chadwick-Piano
Michael Finnissy
NB Workshop audio recording extracted from video
1.Grieg Original, Finnissy intervention
2.Finnissy discusses the working process
3.Finnissy’s compositional response-intervention from Roy Howat
4.Finnissy approaches the material his way
5.The same thing with different notes
6.Conclusions
Posted on November 22nd, 2011 by Peter Sheppard Skaerved