Finck, Heinrich

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Finck, Heinrich

Finck, Heinrich, German composer, great-uncle of Hermann Finck; b. probably in Bamberg, 1444 or 1445;d. Vienna, June 9, 1527. He grew up in Poland. He was educated at the Univ. of Leipzig (matriculated in 1482). He was in the service of Prince Alexander of Vilnius, Lithuania, as Kapellmeister by 1498, and continued in his service when Alexander became king of Poland in 1501, being active at the court in Krakow until at least 1505. He left Poland in 1510, and then was Singemeister at the ducal Kapelle in Stuttgart until 1514; he subsequently served the court in Augsburg until being appointed composer of the cathedral chapter in Salzburg in 1519. On Jan. 1, 1527, he formally assumed the position of Hofkapellmeister to the court in Vienna. A large portion of his output has not survived; 113 pieces are known to be by him, some incomplete. Among his works are 7 masses, 40 motets, motet cycles for the Proper of the Mass, 28 hymns, 38 songs, and instrumental pieces. See L. Hoffmann-Erbrecht, ed., Heinrich Finck: Ausgewahlte Werke, I, in Das Erbe Deutscher Musik (1962).

Bibliography

L. Hoffmann-Erbrecht, Henricus K, musicus excellentissimus (1445–1527) (Cologne, 1982).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire