Gottfried Finger

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Gottfried Finger (* around 1660 in Olomouc ; buried on August 31, 1730 in Mannheim ) was a Moravian- German conductor and composer .

Life

After a musical education in his native city of Gottfried Finger came to the court of the Prince Bishop of Olomouc ( Olomouc ), Charles II. Of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn and to Kroměříž ( Kroměříž ), where his earliest known compositions are stored. After staying in Munich as a musician from 1682 onwards , he traveled to England, where he was accepted into the court orchestra of King James II in 1685, and he was known as Geoffrey Finger. Here he dedicated his op. 1 to the King of England in 1687. After the King's exile in 1688, Finger began a period as a freelance musician and composer, during which he was one of the most important personalities in London's musical life until 1701. He then became a chamber musician in Wroclaw . After 1702 he worked at the court in Berlin as a chamber musician, from 1707 as a member of the court orchestra of the imperial governor in Innsbruck , of which he was concertmaster from 1708. Gottfried Finger probably retained this position until his death, even when the court moved to Neuburg an der Donau in 1717, to Heidelberg in 1718 and to Mannheim in 1720 . In 1723 he was mentioned as a member of the Mannheim court orchestra.

Works

His compositions of masquerades, musical plays and operas are influenced by his Moravian and Bohemian contemporaries Pavel Vejvanovsky and Heinrich Ignaz Biber . Gottfried Finger also created sonatas for various instruments. He also composed incidental music during his time in London and two operas for Berlin . A list of his works can be found in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG), 1 (1949) - 10 (1962), vol. 4.

selection

  • Sonatae XII. pro diversis instrumentis quarum tres priores pro violino & viola di gamba, proximae tres pro II violis & viola di basso, tres sequentes pro III violinis, relique pro II violinis & viola, omnes ad bassum continuam pro organo seu clavicymbalo formantur…, 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 sonates à 2 flûtes & 1 basse continue…, Opus 4, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690)
  • X Suonatae a tre, due violini e violoncello o basso continuo…, Opus 5, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690)
  • 7 sonatas for trumpet, oboe, bass and bc
  • 7 suites for Baryton and Bc
  • Overture to the Serenate The Fifth Element (Heidelberg, 1718)
  • Opera; The victory of beauty over heroes with Jean-Baptiste Volumier and Augustin Reinhard Stricker (Berlin, 1706, lost)
  • Opera; Roxane and Alexander's wedding (Berlin, 1708, lost)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Finger, Gottfried
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Finger, Godfrey; Finger, Geoffrey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Moravian-German composer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1660
PLACE OF BIRTH Olomouc
DATE OF DEATH buried August 31, 1730
Place of death Mannheim