Finck, Heinrich 1444 - 06/09/1527

In the summer of 1482, “Henricus Finck de Bamberger Bavaria” enrolled in the University of Leipzig – it is thought that this individual was really Heinrich Finck. Nothing is known of his further studies.



In 1489 he became the musical director in Vilnius under Prince Alexander of Lithuania. The Polish bookkeepers mention a “Cantor Henricus”, who later obtained a master title. In this case, the title doesn’t refer to a university degree but rather to his position as a leading figure in the court orchestra. When Prince Alexander became king of Poland in 1501, Heinrich Finck became a member of the court orchestra in Krakow.



From 1510 to 1514 he served as the orchestra director of the court orchestra in Stuttgart in the court of Duke Ulrich von Württemberg. He also served as a composer in the court orchestra of Maximilian I. Around 1519 he began working for the cathedral in Salzburg.



Heinrich Finck spent the last years of his life in Vienna, where he’d served as director of Ferdinand I’s court orchestra since 1527.
His polyphonic spiritual works and secular songs show a transition from a late medieval cantus firmus technique, usually for three voices, to a Renaissance form for up to seven voices.