Gottfried [Godfrey] Finger

(c.1660-1730)

Composer, born in Moravia. Went to London in 1685 as part of the Catholic chapel of James II; the chapel was dissolved in 1688, but he stayed in England, writing masque music as well as an Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, 1693. After a composing contest in 1700, in which he was apparently slighted, he left England, first serving Queen Sophie-Charlotte of Prussia, then Duke Karl Philipp of Pfalz-Neuburg, whom he eventually followed to Innsbruck, Düsseldorf, Heidelberg, and Mannheim, where he last appears in the Hofkapelle register in 1723. Aside from his stage and vocal music, he published many chamber suites and sonatas.



A Partial Godfrey Finger Discography | VIIA: Henry Purcell and his Contemporaries