Tyrolean Musical Treasures 28

Gottfried Finger (ca. 1660-1730), Trio Sonatas op. 4 and op. 5, about 1695
Gottfried Finger came from Olomouc in Moravia. His close contacts to the Tyrol came about through his ten-year stay in Innsbruck from 1707 to 1717. At the time, the Tyrolean capital was experiencing the last of its outstanding musical peaks. As so often in the past, it was again the personality of the ruler that determined the cultural environment. Duke Karl Philipp von der Pfalz-Neuburg, reigning as the emperor’s regent in the Tyrol, was an extremely art-loving prince. Big social events, and hence opportunities for musical performances, occurred almost every day. The Innsbruck Orchestra of Duke Karl Philipp, in which Finger was the concertmaster, was one of the best ensembles in Europe at the time. Not without reason did the instrumentalists, who largely came from the Tyrol, later form the foundation of the world-famous Mannheim Orchestra. Almost all of Karl Philipp’s musicians accompanied him to his new royal residence in Mannheim when took over the rule of the Palatine patrimonial lands in 1717. Gottfried Finger’s Trio Sonatas op. 4 and 5 were actually composed before his sojourn in Innsbruck. Nevertheless, these sensitive and thoroughly appealing compositions with their sensual tone surely must have been among the favorites in the repertoire of the Innsbruck court orchestra. Finger’s sonatas are rather uniform in style. With a Baroque liberality of interpretation, we therefore made some additions for their complete performance under the auspices of the Barockfest 2002 at the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum. Besides the obligatory bowed string instruments and a colorfully scored basso continuo featuring a harp, theorbo, harpsichord and organ, we included an even broader range of instruments with oboes, side-blown flutes, recorders and a bassoon.

Track 5, 5:44
Sonate in h-minor
Opus 5/7