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Censorship and Aesthetics in Michael Finnissy’s History of Photography in Sound
An article based on a conference at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK, in 2005. The paper is published on this site as a loving homage to Michael Finnissy on the occasion of his upcoming 80th birthday in 2026. Andrew Infanti expresses his special thanks to the composer for access to his manuscript material, particularly precious for the present analysis of a piece from his cycle The History of Photography in Sound (1995–2001).
The paper proposes a literal reading of the title “Wachtend op de volgende uitbarsting von repressie en censuur” (Awaiting the next outburst of repression and censorship) by identifying Finnissy’s musical take on censorship.