Bettina Hoffmann
Catalogue of Solo and Chamber Music for Viola da Gamba
Finger, Gottfried (Godfrey) (?)
16 sonatas for 2 violas da gamba:
Sonata 1 Amoena in E major, Sonata 2 Ariosa in D minor, Sonata 3 in G major, Sonata 4 in A minor, Sonata 5 in B flat major, Sonata 6 Augustiana in D minor, Sonata 7 Grandoena in D minor, Sonata 8 Jucunda in A major, Sonata 9 Suavisona in B minor, Sonata 10 Gratiosa in D major, Sonata 11 Primoena in C major, Sonata 12 Mixta in A major, Sonata 13 Furiosa in G major, Sonata 14 Selecta in D major, Sonata 15 Aureliana in G minor, Sonata 16 Furiosa 2da in D major
(Rawson RI 158-173)
manuscript
D-SÜN ms. 12, n° 1-16 (all 16 sonatas)
GB-Ob C.93, ff. 57-59 Sonatina (concordant with Sonata 5)
GB-DRc D.2, no. 45 (concordant with Sonata 7 Grandoena, attributed to «Mr. Young», see)
Gb-Lcm C.41/2, pp. 55-56 (concordant with Sonata 7 Grandoena, incomplete, fragment of a soloistic part and bass line only)
CZ-KRa A 4688 Balletti scordati a Violino solo e Viola di Gamba, ff. 9v-10r (concordant with Sonata 8 Jucunda, followed by a suite), (incomplete, viol I missing)
Walhall (choice), Güntersberg (choice)
The manuscripts in D-SÜN and in CZ-KRa are anonymous; the composer has been identified thanks to the concordances with the manuscript GB-Ob C.93. The attribution is in turn cast into doubt, at least for part of the sonatas, by the concordance, discovered in 2024 by Luke Challinor, of the Sonata 7 Grandoena handed down in DRc D.2 under Young's name (see).
The harmonic lack of a bass line is evident in many passages of the version for two viols; the manuscript Gb-Lcm C41/2, which offers a basso continuo for both the slow introduction (Prelude) and the following divisions of the Sonata 7 Grandoena, seems to confirm that a bass was intended.
Arthur W. Marshall, The Viola da Gamba Music of Godfrey Finger, «Chelys» 1 (1969), pp. 16-26
Fred Flassig, Die solistische Gambenmusik in Deutschland im 18. Jahrhundert, Göttingen, Cuvillier Verlag, 1998
Robert Rawson, From Olomouc to London: the Early Music of Gottfried Finger (c.1655-1730), 2 vols., dissertation, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2002
