Finke was born the son of a teacher in 1891 in the north-Bohemian village of Josefstal (modern-day Josefův Důl, Czech Republic). From 1906 to 1908, he attended a teacher's seminar in Reichenberg (now Liberec). He received organ, piano and violin lessons, and from 1908 to 1911, studied at the Prague Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition. From 1911 onward, he worked as a private music teacher and from 1915 as a teacher of musical theory at the Prague Conservatory. In 1920, he moved to the German Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Prague, where he worked as a teacher of musical theory and composition. He became a professor in 1926, and worked as the rector from 1927 to 1945. His students included Friederike Schwarz.[1]
During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, he composed works expressing sympathy for the Nazis, most notably the hymn O Herzland Böhmen (1942).[2] His opportunistic application for membership within the Nazi party expired in 1942 because of his political unreliability.[3]
After imprisonment and expropriation as a result of the Beneš decrees as well as a suicide attempt in 1945, Finke was brought to Dresden by the Soviet occupation forces via Moscow. There, he founded the State Academy of Music and Dresden Theatre, and was, until 1951, its rector. Until 1958, he was a professor of sound recordings at the Leipzig Academy of Music. His total works comprise about 170 compositions.
Finke's grave at the Heidefriedhof in Dresden
Finke was a member of the SED from 1946 until his death in 1968 in Dresden. He was buried in Heidenfriedhof Cemetery. His signature graces his gravestone. Finke's estate is preserved by the Academy of ArtsinBerlin.
Lied der Zeit, Dance Pantomime in 2 parts (premiere 1947 in Buehlau, Dresden)
Ruth, die Ährenleserin, begegnet Boas, Characteristic Dance for solo dancer and piano (1946–1947)
Der schlagfertige Liebhaber, Opera buffa in 3 acts after Karl Zuchardt (1950–1954); unfinished (vocal/piano score only)
Der Zauberfisch, Children's Opera in 2 acts after folk tales by the Brothers Grimm (1956–1959; premiere 1960, State Opera Dresden); libretto by Wilhelm Hübner
Fantasia auf der Fahrt (Fantasia on the Ride), Op. 12 (1908)
Intermezzo (1909)
4 Klavierstücke (4 Piano Pieces) (1910–11)
Eine Reiter-Burleske, Symphonic Poem for piano (1913)
Romantische Suite (Romantic Suite) (1916)
Gesichten (Visions), 7 Piano Pieces (1921)
Klaviermusiken für Kinder (Piano Music for Children) (1921)
19 kleine Klavierstücke (19 Little Piano Pieces) (1921)
Marionetten-Musiken, 6 Piano Pieces (1921)
10 Kinderstücke (10 Pieces for Children) (1926)
Suite No. 2 (1928)
Concertino for 2 pianos (1931)
Lehrer und Schüler (Teacher and Student), 10 Pieces for piano 4-hands (1935)
10 Kinderstücke (10 Piano Pieces) for piano 4-hands (1938)
Egerländer Sträußlein: Eine Reihe kleiner Stücke für Klavier nach Egerländer Volkslieder (Egerland Bouquet: Series of Little Piano Pieces after Egerland Folk Songs) (1939)
Tänze aus dem Isergebirge (Dances from the Jizera Mountains) for piano 4-hands (1940)
Sonatina (1945)
Klavierstücke nach slawischen Volksliedern (Piano Pieces after Slavic Folk Songs) (1952)
Drei Klaviersätze nach deutschen Volksliedern (3 Movements for Piano after German Folk Songs) (1954)
Wir tragen ein Licht for mixed chorus (1938); words by Franz Höller
Deutsche Kantate (German Cantata) for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, boys chorus, orchestra and organ (1940); words by Franz Höller
Weihnachtslied (Christmas Song) for mixed chorus (1940)
O Herzland Böhmens for mixed chorus, organ and brass (1942)
3 Kanons (2 Canons) for mixed chorus (1946); words by Emanuel Geibel, Wilhelm Busch, Ludwig Christoph Hölty
2 russische Volkslieder (2 Russian Folk Songs) for female chorus and piano (1946)
Weihnachts-Kantilene, Little Cantata for children's or female chorus with optional violin, cello and organ (or piano) (1948); words by Matthias Claudius
Dieter Härtwig: Fidelio F. Finke: Leben und Werk. Habilitationsschrift, masch. vervielf. Leipzig 1970. Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main U.70.3699
Fred K. Prieberg: Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945, CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p. 1565–1569.
Wilhelm Hübner: Fidelio F. Finke – Gedanken über meinen Lehrer, in: Dresden und die avancierte Musik im 20. Jahrhundert. Teil II: 1933-1966, edited by Matthias Herrmann and Hanns-Werner Heister, Laaber 2002, p. 397–404 (Musik in Dresden 5), ISBN3-89007-510-X
