Hermann Finck (21 March 1527 – 28 December 1558) was a German
composer.
Career
Finck was born in
Pirna
Pirna (; hsb, Pěrno; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as ...
, and died at
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
. After 1553 he lived at Wittenberg, where he was
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
, and there, in 1555, was published his collection of
wedding songs. In 1545 he matriculated at Wittenberg University and then taught at the university from 1554 and became an organist in 1557.
Works
His most celebrated work is entitled ''Practica musica, exempla variorum signorum, proportionum, et canonum, judicium de tonis ac quaedam de arte suaviter et artificiose cantandi continens'' (Wittenberg, 1556). It is of great historic value, but very rare. In the work, he praised Gombert as a great master and he condemned the German organ style of the time for being noisy and amorphous.
In book five, entitled, "On the Art of Singing Elegantly and Sweetly" he gave advice to singers.
Family
Finck was the great-nephew of composer
Heinrich Finck Heinrich Finck (1444 or 1445 – 9 June 1527) was a notable German composer. 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 ...
.
References
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German music theorists
1527 births
1558 deaths
16th-century German composers
{{Germany-musicologist-stub