The Western musical canon came about not merely by accumulation, but by opposition and subversion, both to the ruling powers on whom composers depended for their livelihoods and to other musics.

2111] (1982) (analysis score sample)
(inspired by the "Carceri d'Invenzione by Giambattista Piranesi). Tempo new series no. Jonathan Nott.

His work is characterized by highly complex notation and the extensive use of irregular nested rhythmic tuplets and he is typically considered to be the central figure of the New Complexity movement in music. Ferneyhough taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and the University of California at San Diego and currently teaches composition at Stanford University.