Gottfried Finger

He also wrote operas. Finger was born in Olomouc, modern-day Czech Republic, and worked for the court of James II of England before becoming a freelance composer. The fact that Finger owned a copy of the musical score of the work Chelys by the Flemish composer Carolus Hacquart suggests that the two composers may have worked together in England. After a contest in London to set William Congreve's The Judgement of Paris as an opera, in which Finger came in fourth place, he left England and moved to Germany. He died in Mannheim.

After musical training in his native town, Gottfried Finger came to the court of the Prince-Bishop of Olomouc, Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, and to Kroměříž, where his oldest known compositions are preserved. After working as a musician in Munich since 1682, he traveled to England, where he was accepted into the court chapel of King James II in 1685 and was known as Geoffrey Finger. In 1687, he here dedicated his op. 1 to the English king. After the King's exile in 1688, Finger began a period as a freelance musician and composer, during which he was one of the most important figures in London's musical life until 1701. He then became a chamber musician in Wrocław. After 1702 he worked as a chamber musician at the court in Berlin, and from 1707 as a member of the court chapel of the imperial governor in Innsbruck, of which he was concertmaster from 1708. Gottfried Finger presumably retained this position until his death, even when the court moved to Neuburg an der Donau in 1717, to Heidelberg in 1718 and to Mannheim in 1720. In 1723 he was still listed as a member of the Mannheim court chapel.

Frontispiece to Fingers Sonatae XII pro diversis instrumentis, Simon Gribelin, ca. 1688 Sonatae XII. for various instruments, three parts for violin & viola di gamba, three more for II violins & viola di basso, three consecutives for III violins, a reliquary for II violins & viola, all in continuo for organ and harp..., Opus 1, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690) Six Sonatas of two parts for two flutes..., Opus 2, (London, John Walsh & Joseph Hare around 1688) Six sonatas à 2 flutes & 1 basse continue..., Opus 4, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690) 10 Sonatas for three, two violins and cello or basso continuo, Opus 5, (Amsterdam, Estienne Roger around 1690) 7 sonatas for trumpet, oboe, bass and B.c. 7 suites for Baryton and B.c. Overture to the serenade The Fifth Element (Heidelberg, 1718) Opera; The Victory of Beauty over the Heroes (with Jean-Baptiste Volumier and Augustin Reinhard Stricker) (Berlin, 1706, lost) Opera; Roxane and Alexander's Wedding (Berlin, 1708, lost)