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Herman Finck

Herman Finck (4 November 1872 – 21 April 1939) was a British composer and conductor of Dutch extraction.

Born Hermann Van Der Vinck in London, he began his studies training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established a career as the musical director at the Palace Theatre in London (from 1900 until 1920), with whose orchestra he made many virtuoso recordings. During these decades, he was also a principal conductor at the Queen's Theatre, at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and at Southport. Finck was a prolific composer throughout the 1910s and 1920s. He composed around thirty theatre shows of most types - operettas (such as Decameron Nights), ballets (like My Lady Dragon Fly), incidental music, revues (annual revues Round the Map and The Passing Show were especially popular), plus songs, "mood music" for the silent cinema and many light orchestral pieces - suites such as Vive La Danse and Marie Antoinette, marches such as Pageant March, Guards Parade March, Splendour and Victory and the individual genre movements Dancing Daffodils, Dignity and Impudence, Land of Roses, Penguin Parade and Queen of the Flowers.

Finck also conducted the first record album ever made (in 1909) of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

The Palace Theatre was famous not only for its orchestra, but also for the beautiful Palace Girls, who had many dances composed by Finck in their honour. In 1911 the Palace Girls performed a song and dance number, which was originally called "Tonight", but became hugely popular as a romantic instrumental piece "In The Shadows". This is the most enduring composition of Finck, largely because "In The Shadows" was one of the last numbers played on the Titanic and has thus made its way into several Titanic-collections.

Another popular song, during the World War I was "Gilbert the Filbert" (also called "The K-Nuts"). It was performed in The Passing Show of 1914 by the popular Basil Hallam, who became Captain B. H. Radford and was killed in 1916 when he fell to his death because his parachute failed to open.

Finck also conducted the first London stage production of Show Boat, in 1928. This was the first production of Show Boat to include Paul Robeson in its cast.

His illustrated autobiography, "My melodious memories" was published in 1937.

The Divine Art Recordings Group (UK and USA) released on its Diversions label, in February 2012, the first CD album dedicated to the music of Herman Finck, performed by the orchestra and principals of the Bel-Etage Theatre from Estonia, conducted by Mart Sander. In addition to Finck's most popular tunes "Gilbert the Filbert" and "In The Shadows" (vocal version), this CD also includes several popular dances, patriotic World War I songs and hits from the revues and musicals, as well as two full orchestral suites - My Lady Dragonfly and the magnificently symphonic Decameron Nights, which had not had a revival since 1923.

In 2012, Divine Music CD label released The Finck Album, the first modern recording of Finck's music, performed by the principals and orchestra of the Bel-Etage Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia, conducted by Mart Sander.

Birth and Death Data: Born November 22, 1875 (London), Died April 21, 1939

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1902 - 1926

Roles Represented in DAHR: conductor, composer, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 90 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 6477 12-in. approximately 1915 Four foot ten brigade Gertrude Lang ; Frank Norris Vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 6622 12-in. approximately 1915 Bric-a-brac selections, part 1 London Revue Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6623 12-in. approximately 1915 Bric-a-brac selections, part 2 London Revue Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6858 12-in. approximately 1916 My Lady Frayle, selections, part 1 London Repertoire Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6859 12-in. approximately 1916 My Lady Frayle, selections, part 2 London Repertoire Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 74159 12-in. approximately September 1920 Naughty princess, waltz Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74160 12-in. approximately September 1920 Ballesteros Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74233 12-in. 1/22/1921 Little Dutch girl, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74234 12-in. 1/22/1921 Little Dutch girl, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74235 12-in. 1/22/1921 Sybil, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74236 12-in. 1/22/1921 Sybil, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74283 12-in. 4/20/1921 Mary, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74284 12-in. 4/20/1921 Mary, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74285 12-in. 4/20/1921 Melodious memories, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor, arranger  
Columbia 74286 12-in. 4/20/1921 Melodious memories, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor, arranger  
Columbia 74344 12-in. 9/8/1921 Melodious memories, part 3 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor, arranger  
Columbia 74345 12-in. 9/8/1921 Melodious memories, part 4 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74346 12-in. 9/8/1921 Sally, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74347 12-in. 9/8/1921 Sally, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74352 12-in. 9/15/1921 The co-optimists, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74353 12-in. 9/15/1921 The co-optimists, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74354 12-in. 9/15/1921 Miniature overture Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74355 12-in. 9/15/1921 Danse Arabe Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74359 12-in. 9/30/1921 Gipsy princess, selection, part 1 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
Columbia 74360 12-in. 9/30/1921 Gipsy princess, selection, part 2 Herman Finck ; Herman Finck's Orchestra Orchestra conductor  
(Results 26-50 of 90 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Finck, Herman," accessed May 9, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109503.

Finck, Herman. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 9, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109503.

"Finck, Herman." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109503

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