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Prof. Ferneyhough received his formal musical training at the Birmingham School of Music from 1961–63 and studied composition with Sir Lennox Berkeley at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1966–67. He then studied composition with Ton de Leeuw in Amsterdam in 1968–69 and with Klaus Huber at the Basel Konservatorium from 1969–71.

His honors include the Mendelssohn Scholarship (1968), three prizes in the Gaudeamus competition (1968–70), an honorable mention in the competition of the Italian section of ISCM (1972), and a special prize from ISCM for the best work submitted in all categories (1974). He has also received a Heinrich-Strobel-Stiftung bursary from SWR (1974–75), a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst award (1976–77) and the Koussevitzky Award (1978, for the best recorded contemporary work). He was given the title Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France (1984) and was named an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (1990). More recently, he served as a fellow of the Birmingham Conservatoire (1995) and the Royal Academy of Music (1998) and received the Royal Philharmonic Award for Chamber Music Composition (1996, for String Trio) and the Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis (2007). In addition, he has been a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin since 1996.

He is also active in other positions. He has written numerous articles for new music publications, many of which appear in Collected Writings (Harwood Academic Publishers). He has served as a member of the editorial board of the journal Perspectives of New Music since 1995.

Prof. Ferneyhough taught composition at the Musikhochschule Freiburg/Breisgau from 1973–86 and regularly gave masterclasses at the Scuola Civica di Musica in Milan from 1984–87. He then taught as principal composition teacher at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag in 1986–87 and as Professor of Music at the University of California at San Diego from 1987–2000. He has taught composition as the William H. Bonsall Professor in Music at Stanford University since 2000. He has given classes and lectures at Darmstadt since 1976 and served as coordinator of its composition course from 1984–94. Moreover, he has directed the Voix Nouvelles courses in composition at Royaumont since 1990 and has taught at IRCAM since 1993. He has also held guest professorships at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm and the University of Chicago.

STAGE: Shadowtime (scenic action/opera, libretto by Charles Bernstein), high soprano, soprano, alto, falsetto baritone, baritone, speaker, 12 mixed voices, guitar, piano, small orchestra (18 players), tape, 1999–2004 (each of its seven scenes may be performed separately as concert works: New Angels/Transient Failure; Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabriel; The Doctrine of Similarity; Opus Contra Naturam; Eleven 'Interrogatory Instances'; Seven 'Tableaux Vivants' depicting the Angel of History as Melancholia; Stelæ for Failed Time)

ORCHESTRAL: Epicycle, 20 strings, 1968; Firecycle Beta (symphonic torso), 2 pianos, 2 soloist ensembles (harp, cimbalom, amplified viola, amplified cello, amplified double bass, electronic organ, timpani, 3 percussion; harp, amplified guitar, amplified viola, amplified cello, amplified double bass, harpsichord [+ celesta], timpani, 3 percussion), 2 string groups (each with 30 strings) (with conductor, 4 sub-conductors), 1969–71; La terre est un homme, large orchestra (89 or more players), 1976–79; Carceri d'Invenzione I, small orchestra (16 players), 1982; Carceri d'Invenzione II, flute, small orchestra (20 players), 1983–85; Carceri d'Invenzione III, small orchestra (18 players), 1985–86

CHAMBER MUSIC: Sonatina, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet/bassoon, 1963; Four Miniatures, flute, piano, 1965; Prometheus, flute (+ piccolo), oboe, English horn, clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet), bassoon, French horn, 1965, revised 1967; Coloratura, oboe, piano, 1966; Sonatas for String Quartet, 1967; Cassandra's Dream Song, flute, 1970; Time and Motion Study II, amplified cello, tape delay system, modulators, 1973–76; Unity Capsule, flute, 1973–76; Time and Motion Study I, bass clarinet, 1971–77; Funérailles I-II, harp (+ percussion), 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, double bass, 1969–80; String Quartet No. 2, 1979–80; Superscriptio – Carceri d'Invenzione I, piccolo, 1981; Adagissimo, string quartet, 1983; Carceri d'Invenzione IIb, flute, 1984 (also version by Tosiya Suzuki as Carceri d'Invenzione IId, recorder, 1997); Intermedio alla ciaccona – Carceri d'Invenzione III, violin, 1986; Mnemosyne – Carceri d'Invenzione VII, bass flute, tape, 1986 (also version for 9 bass flutes, 1986); Carceri d'Invenzione IIc, flute, tape, 1987; Fanfare for Klaus Huber, 2 percussion, 1987; String Quartet No. 3, 1987; La chute d'Icare, clarinet, ensemble (flute [+ piccolo, alto flute, bass flute], oboe [+ English horn], violin, cello, double bass, piano, percussion), 1988; Kurze Schatten II, guitar, 1983–89; Trittico per G.S., double bass, 1989

CHAMBER MUSIC: Mort subite, piccolo, clarinet, piano, vibraphone, click tracks, 1990; Bone Alphabet, percussion, 1991; Terrain, violin, ensemble (flute [+ piccolo], oboe [+ English horn], clarinet [+ bass clarinet], bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, double bass), 1991–92; Streichtrio, violin, viola, cello, 1994; String Trio, violin, viola, cello, 1995; Incipits, viola, percussion obbligato, ensemble (piccolo [+ bass flute], E-flat clarinet [+ bass clarinet], 2 violins, cello, double bass), 1996; Allgebrah, oboe, ensemble (4 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, double bass), 1996; Flurries, piccolo, clarinet, French horn, violin, cello, piano, 1997–98; Unsichtbare Farben, violin, 1997–99; In Nomine a 3, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, 2001; Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabriel, guitar, ensemble (flute [+ piccolo, bass flute], oboe [+ piccolo oboe, English horn], clarinet [+ E-flat clarinet], bass clarinet [+ contrabass clarinet], French horn, trumpet [+ soprano trombone], trombone [+ bass trumpet], harp, guitar, violin, cello, piano, percussion), 2003–04 (scene 2 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work); String Quartet No. 5, 2003–06

CHORAL: Missa Brevis, 12 mixed voices, 1969; Time and Motion Study III, 16 mixed voices, percussion, live electronics, 1974; Transit, 6 amplified mixed voices, amplified flute (+ piccolo, alto flute, bass flute), amplified oboe (+ oboe d'amore, English horn), amplified clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet), orchestra, 1972–75; The Doctrine of Similarity, 12/48 mixed voices, clarinet, bass clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet), contrabass clarinet (+ clarinet), violin, piano, 1-2 percussion, 1999–2000 (scene 3 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work); Stelæ for Failed Time, 12 mixed voices, tape, 2001 (scene 7 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work); New Angels/Transient Failure, high soprano, soprano, alto, falsetto baritone, baritone, 12 mixed voices, small orchestra (18 players), 2001–02 (scene 1 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work); Eleven 'Interrogatory Instances', baritone, 12 mixed voices, small orchestra (18 players), 2003–04 (scene 5 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work)

VOCAL: Études Transcendantales (texts by Ernst Meister, Alrun Moll), soprano (+ claves), flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), oboe (+ English horn), cello, harpsichord, 1982–85; String Quartet No. 4 (text by Jackson Mac Low), soprano, string quartet, 1987–90; On Stellar Magnitudes (text by the composer), mezzo-soprano, flute (+ piccolo), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, cello, piano, 1994; Seven 'Tableaux Vivants' depicting the Angel of History as Melancholia, speaker, small orchestra (15 players), 2003 (scene 6 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work); Plötzlichkeit (vocalise), soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, large orchestra, 2005–06

PIANO: Epigrams, 1966; Sonata for Two Pianos, 1966; Three Pieces, 1966–67; Lemma-Icon-Epigram, 1981; Opus Contra Naturam (pianist also speaks), 1999–2000 (scene 4 of Shadowtime; may be performed separately as a concert work)

ORGAN: Sieben Sterne, 1969–70

PICTURES INDEX