Fidelio Friedrich "Fritz" Finke (22 October 1891 – 12 June 1968) was a Bohemian-German composer.
Life
Finke was born the son of a teacher in 1891 in the north-Bohemian village of Josefstal (modern-day Josefův Důl, Czech Republic). From 1906 to 1908, he attended a teacher's seminar in Reichenberg (now
Liberec). He received organ, piano and violin lessons, and from 1908 to 1911, studied at the
Prague Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition. From 1911 onward, he worked as a private music teacher and from 1915 as a teacher of musical theory at the
Prague Conservatory. In 1920, he moved to the German Academy of Music and Performing Arts in
Prague, where he worked as a teacher of musical theory and composition. He became a professor in 1926, and worked as the rector from 1927 to 1945. His students included
Friederike Schwarz.[1]
During the
German occupation of Czechoslovakia, he composed works expressing sympathy for the
Nazis, most notably the hymn O Herzland Böhmen (1942).[2] His opportunistic application for membership within the
Nazi party expired in 1942 because of his political unreliability.[3]
After imprisonment and expropriation as a result of the
Beneš decrees as well as a suicide attempt in 1945, Finke was brought to
Dresden by the Soviet occupation forces via
Moscow. There, he founded the State Academy of Music and Dresden Theatre, and was, until 1951, its rector. Until 1958, he was a professor of sound recordings at the
Leipzig Academy of Music. His total works comprise about 170 compositions.
Finke was a member of the
SED from 1946 until his death in 1968 in Dresden. He was buried in Heidenfriedhof Cemetery. His signature graces his gravestone. Finke's estate is preserved by the
Academy of Arts in
Berlin.
Selected works
Stage
Die versunkene Glocke (The Sunken Bell), Opera in 4 acts after the drama by
Gerhart Hauptmann (1916–1919); unfinished
Lied der Zeit, Dance Pantomime in 2 parts (premiere 1947 in
Buehlau, Dresden)
Ruth, die Ährenleserin, begegnet Boas, Characteristic Dance for solo dancer and piano (1946–1947)
Der schlagfertige Liebhaber, Opera buffa in 3 acts after
Karl Zuchardt (1950–1954); unfinished (vocal/piano score only)
Der Zauberfisch, Children's Opera in 2 acts after folk tales by the
Brothers Grimm (1956–1959; premiere 1960, State Opera Dresden); libretto by Wilhelm Hübner
Orchestral
Schauspielouvertüre (1908)
Suite for string orchestra (1911)
Variationen und Fuge for chamber orchestra (1915)
Pan, Symphony for large orchestra (1919)
Konzert für Orchester (Concerto for Orchestra) (1932)
Kleine Festmusik for concert band (1937)
Acht Bagatellen (8 Bagatelles) (1939)
Vier Studien (4 Studies) (1943)
Ciacona (1944)
Suite No. 2 (1947)
Suite No. 3 (1949)
Suite No. 4 for 16 wind instruments and percussion (1953)
Suite No. 5 Musik für elf Bläser (Music for 11 Winds) (1955)
Suite No. 6 (1956)
Symphonische Märsche (Symphonic Marches), Suite No. 7 (1960)
Suite No. 8 for wind quintet, 2 pianos and string orchestra (1961)
Divertimento for chamber orchestra (1964)
Festmusik (1964)
Concertante
Concerto for piano and small orchestra (1930)
Capriccio über ein polnisches Volkslied (Capriccio on a Polish Folk Song) for piano and orchestra (1953)
… ismen und … ionen for flute, viola, cello, double bass, piano and harp (1968); movement IV completed by Heinrich Simbriger
Piano
Polka groteska
Sonata in E minor (1903, lost)
Thema con Variazioni, Op. 9 (before 1908)
Fantasia auf der Fahrt (Fantasia on the Ride), Op. 12 (1908)
Intermezzo (1909)
4 Klavierstücke (4 Piano Pieces) (1910–11)
Eine Reiter-Burleske, Symphonic Poem for piano (1913)
Romantische Suite (Romantic Suite) (1916)
Gesichten (Visions), 7 Piano Pieces (1921)
Klaviermusiken für Kinder (Piano Music for Children) (1921)
19 kleine Klavierstücke (19 Little Piano Pieces) (1921)
Marionetten-Musiken, 6 Piano Pieces (1921)
10 Kinderstücke (10 Pieces for Children) (1926)
Suite No. 2 (1928)
Concertino for 2 pianos (1931)
Lehrer und Schüler (Teacher and Student), 10 Pieces for piano 4-hands (1935)
10 Kinderstücke (10 Piano Pieces) for piano 4-hands (1938)
Egerländer Sträußlein: Eine Reihe kleiner Stücke für Klavier nach Egerländer Volkslieder (Egerland Bouquet: Series of Little Piano Pieces after
Egerland Folk Songs) (1939)
Tänze aus dem Isergebirge (Dances from the
Jizera Mountains) for piano 4-hands (1940)
Sonatina (1945)
Klavierstücke nach slawischen Volksliedern (Piano Pieces after Slavic Folk Songs) (1952)
Drei Klaviersätze nach deutschen Volksliedern (3 Movements for Piano after German Folk Songs) (1954)
Organ
Fantasie, Variationen und Doppelfuge über den Choral „Aus tiefer Not“ (1928)
Toccate und Fuge (1928)
Sieben Choralvorspiele (7 Chorale Preludes) (1928)
Wir tragen ein Licht for mixed chorus (1938); words by Franz Höller
Deutsche Kantate (German Cantata) for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, boys chorus, orchestra and organ (1940); words by Franz Höller
Weihnachtslied (Christmas Song) for mixed chorus (1940)
O Herzland Böhmens for mixed chorus, organ and brass (1942)
3 Kanons (2 Canons) for mixed chorus (1946); words by
Emanuel Geibel, Wilhelm Busch, Ludwig Christoph Hölty
2 russische Volkslieder (2 Russian Folk Songs) for female chorus and piano (1946)
Weihnachts-Kantilene, Little Cantata for children's or female chorus with optional violin, cello and organ (or piano) (1948); words by
Matthias Claudius
Honorary sponsor at the music academies of Dresden and Leipzig
1961 Bronze Patriotic Order of Merit
Literature
Dieter Härtwig: Fidelio F. Finke: Leben und Werk. Habilitationsschrift, masch. vervielf. Leipzig 1970. Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main U.70.3699
Fred K. Prieberg: Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945, CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p. 1565–1569.
Wilhelm Hübner: Fidelio F. Finke – Gedanken über meinen Lehrer, in: Dresden und die avancierte Musik im 20. Jahrhundert. Teil II: 1933-1966, edited by
Matthias Herrmann and
Hanns-Werner Heister, Laaber 2002, p. 397–404 (Musik in Dresden 5),
ISBN3-89007-510-X