Fink, Gottfried Wilhelm

Composer

FINK, Gottfried Wilhelm, b Thuringia (?nr Eisenach), Germany 1783, d Halle, Germany 1846. Coming from a family of organ-builders, he studied music at Naumburg, and theology at Leipzig where he later ran a school, eventually becoming Prof of Music there. A distinguished writer, critic, and arranger of popular songs and hymns, he played and wrote for piano and violin, contributing also to several musical reference works. In current controversy he championed the classic tradition as opposed to such ‘romantics’ as his younger contemporaries Schumann and Chopin, both of whom he vigorously opposed. No.33.