Gottfried Finger

Portrait of Gottfried Finger

Gottfried Finger (c. 1655-56 – buried 31 August 1730), also Godfrey Finger, was a Moravian Baroque composer. He was also a virtuoso on the viol,[1] and many of his compositions were for the instrument. He also wrote operas. Finger was born in Olomouc, modern-day Czech Republic, and worked for the court of James II of England before becoming a freelance composer. The fact that Finger owned a copy of the musical score of the work Chelys by the Flemish composer Carolus Hacquart suggests that the two composers may have worked together in England.[2]

Intrada in A-Major for 2 Violas da Gamba from the Codex Sünchinger
Curiosa in D-Major for 2 Violas da Gamba from the Codex Sünchinger
Performed by ViolMedium – Eric Miller & Phillip W. Serna, Viols
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After a contest in London to set William Congreve's The Judgement of Paris as an opera, in which Finger came in fourth place, he left England and moved to Germany. He died in Mannheim.

Works (selection)

Frontispiece to Fingers Sonatae XII pro diversis instrumentis, Simon Gribelin, ca. 1688

Sonatae XII. for various instruments, three parts for violin & viola di gamba, three more for II violins & viola di basso, three consecutives for III violins, a reliquary for II violins & viola, all in continuo for organ and harp…, Opus 1, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690)

Six Sonatas of two parts for two flutes…, Opus 2, (London, John Walsh & Joseph Hare around 1688)

Six sonatas à 2 flutes & 1 basse continue…, Opus 4, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690)

10 Sonatas for three, two violins and cello or basso continuo, Opus 5, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690)

7 sonatas for trumpet, oboe, bass and B.c.

7 suites for Baryton and B.c.

Overture to the serenade The Fifth Element (Heidelberg, 1718)

Opera; The Victory of Beauty over the Heroes (with Jean-Baptiste Volumier and Augustin Reinhard Stricker) (Berlin, 1706, lost)

Opera; Roxane and Alexander's Wedding (Berlin, 1708, lost)

Literature

  • Moritz Fürstenau: Finger, Gottfried. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, S. 16 f.
  • Andrea Harrandt: Finger, Gottfried (Godfrey). In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon. Online-Ausgabe, Wien 2002 ff., ISBN 978-3-7001-3077-2; Druckausgabe: Band 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 2002, ISBN 978-3-7001-3043-7.
  • Thomas Hochradner: Gottfried Fingers „Sonata à. 6. Instrumenti“. In: Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen. Festschrift für Konrad Ruhland zum 70. Geburtstag. Herausgegeben von Joseph Bader und Georg Ruhland. Passau/Schongau 2003, ISBN 978-3-00-012495-2, S. 153–160.
  • Kathryn Lowerre: Music and Musicians on the London Stage, 1695–1705. (= Performance in the Long Eighteenth Century: Studies in Theatre, Music, Dance). Ashgate, Farnham und Burlington 2009, ISBN 978-0-7546-6614-1.
  • Kathryn Lowerre (Hrsg.): The Lively Arts of the London Stage, 1675–1725. (= Performance in the Long Eighteenth Century: Studies in Theatre, Music, Dance). Ashgate, Farnham und Burlington 2014, ISBN 978-1-4094-5533-2.
  • Robert Münster: Gottfried Finger. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 978-3-428-00186-6, S. 159 (Digitalisat).
  • Robert Rawson: Liste zahlreicher Veröffentlichungen des Musikwissenschaftlers über Fingers Leben und Werk
  • Heribert Sturm: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte der böhmischen Länder. Herausgegeben im Auftrag des Collegium Carolinum (Institut), Bd. 1, R. Oldenbourg Verlag München Wien 1979, S. 349, ISBN 978-3-486-49491-4, mit weiteren Literaturhinweisen

Commons: Gottfried Finger – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

  • Werke von und über Gottfried Finger im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
  • Werke von und über Gottfried Finger in der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek
  • Gottfried Finger im Bayerischen Musiker-Lexikon Online (BMLO)
  • Noten und Audiodateien von Gottfried Finger im International Music Score Library Project
  • Kammermusik-Bearbeitungen auf MuseScore
  • Gottfried Finger bei AllMusic (englisch)
  • Sonaten aus Opus 1, 2, 4 und 5 im Archiv des Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck
  • Liste der Bühnenwerke von Gottfried Finger auf Basis der MGG bei Operone
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gottfried Finger.

References

  1. ^ Oxford Journals Volume 33, Issue 4Pp. 591-608, Gottfried Finger's Christmas pastorella
  2. ^ Peter Holman, Life After Death: The Viola Da Gamba in Britain from Purcell to Dolmetsch, Boydell & Brewer, 2010, p. 17


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