Petr Wagner & Ensemble Tourbil

Finger Petr Wagner & Ensemble Tourbil

Gottfried Finger: The Complete Music For Viola Da Gamba Solo, Finger / Ensemble Tourbillon / Wagner, Composer: Gottfried Finger, Performer: Petr Wagner, Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble Tourbillon, Number of Discs: 1. Despite Finger's early prowess as a viola da gambist (he appears to have completely abandoned playing it by the time he left England in 1701), all of his works for that instrument remain unpublished; a few survive in autograph manuscripts, the remainder in copies made by various pupils of his in England. However, virtually all of them are believed to predate his arrival in that country in 1687, though a couple of works may stem from the early 1690s. One item, a Sonata in D Minor, is an arrangement of a work by Ignazio Albertini (1644-1685). The pieces range in difficulty from relatively simple ones intended for students and skilled amateurs to the demanding virtuosity of the Aria et variations that opens the disc.