Heinrich Finck (1444 or 1445 – 9 June 1527) was a German composer. [1] He served as Kapellmeister first for Prince Alexander of Lithuania, later King of Poland, before living Poland in 1510. He worked in Stuttgart before becoming a member (and months before his death, the Kapellmeister) the Hofkapell. [2] [3]
He was the great-uncle of the music theorist and composer Hermann Finck (1527–1558). [4]
He was probably born at Bamberg, but nothing is certainly known either of the place or date of his birth. Between 1492 and 1506 he was a musician in, and later possibly conductor of the court orchestra of successive kings of Poland at Warsaw. He held the post of conductor at Stuttgart from 1510 until about 1514, [5] then was a composer at the Hofkapelle of Emperor Maximilian I,[ citation needed] from 1519(?) at the chapter in Salzburg, and in 1527 Hofkapellmeister of Emperor Ferdinand I in Vienna, where he died.
His works, mostly part songs and other vocal compositions, show great musical knowledge, and amongst the early masters of the German school he holds a high position. They are found scattered amongst ancient and modern collections of songs and other musical pieces. [6] The library of Zwickau possesses a work containing a collection of fifty-five songs by Finck, printed about the middle of the 16th century. [5]
The German vocal ensemble group " Stimmwerck" has recorded a CD of vocal works by Finck, including his "Missa Dominicalis"; and the Josquin Capella another including his "Missa Ave Preclara".