Heinrich Finck
from Bramberg, England
January 1, 1444 - June 9, 1527 (age 83)
Biography
The legacy of this German composer includes genres of sacred music (masses, motets, responsories, hymns) and secular music (lieder and music without texts). References to time and persons indicate the breadth of his extension; he lived during the latter works of Dufay, into Josquin's old-age and composed for approximately 60 years. As a member of the court chapel he had been instructed in Warsaw and later saw service as the Kappelmeister of Stuttgart, to the Duke of Ulrich and Sabina of Bavaria, the Archbishop of Salzburg, finally spending the last years of his life in Vienna. None of his compositions survive preceding 1500. Those works which have been bonified include seven Masses or settings, 40 motets or cycles, and 28 hymns with 38 songs and instrumental pieces. Striking differences in his music are apparent which is a credit to his own contemporaniousness as well as his creative ability and understanding of new styles. It was said that after his death students could not understand the trenchant character of his early works: they were so unpolished. His masses are fully indicative of stylistic changes. The earliest mass is built on the foundations of a cantus firmus whereas the latter mass "Missa dominicalis" contains imitation, full harmonies, and the use of the bass line as the grounding on which the harmony was built. A truly melodic line appears in the Credo of this mass and an even later mass "Missa super 'Ave praeclara'" is illustrative of a connecting motif as well as textual imaging in the Credo. A collection of his compositions in 1542 demonstrated the great variety of music that Finck composed. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi
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