Brian Ferneyhough, the Wiliam H. Bonsall Professor in Music, has been selected as the winner of the 2007 international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize for classical music. The award, which includes a $260,000 cash prize, will be formally bestowed on Ferneyhough in a May 3 ceremony at the Kammerspiele Theater in Munich, Germany.

A pioneer of the New Complexity movement, Ferneyhough has an eclectic repertoire, ranging from the opera Shadowtime to one of the most difficult string quartets of the genre.

According to a statement from the Ernst von Siemens Foundation, Ferneyhough has “rethought and illuminated the myriad possibilities of manipulating musical material and stretched these possibilities to their limits.”

Ferneyhough, who described his musical approach as “provocative” and “controversial,” was humble in his acceptance of the award.

“There are many composers who would do the prize honor, so I can only assume that it’s recognition of my being a great survivor!” he said.

Ferneyhough revealed to The Daily that he was surprised when he learned he’d won the award via a letter.

“Most of us tend to assume that nothing much of consequence is sent by snail-mail these days,” he said. “I had to do a double-take on the content of that one, especially since it was in German.”

This is the first time that a Stanford faculty member has been awarded the prize. Prof. Stephen Sano, chair of the music department, shared Ferneybough’s excitement.

“You can imagine what it means to a student in composition to have the opportunity to study with Prof. Ferneyhough,” Sano said. “The Siemens Music Prize is one of the most revered honors in the music world.”

Sano agreed with the foundation’s statement that few composers have so consistently expanded upon the avant-garde music approaches of the 1950’s and 1960’s.

“Prof. Ferneyhough brings exactly this intellectual and musical vitality to our music department,” Sano said. “As a department, we are tremendously proud of Brian’s accomplishments and this honor bestowed upon him — a most deserved honor indeed.”

Ferneyhough plans to continue composing and teaching — two activities he can hardly imagine doing separately. While he has yet to figure out what to do with the monetary prize, the professor of 35 years did confess one wish.

One idea he had: “Buy myself some unadulterated composing time, perhaps?”