Henry Theophilus Finck

Henry Theophilus Finck (1854-1926) was an American musical critic, born at Bethel, Missouri, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where he was taught piano and violoncello. He taught himself Latin and Greek so thoroughly that he was able to enter Harvard as a sophomore in 1872. At Harvard, he studied philosophy, the classics, and music.

He attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1876, of which he wrote accounts for newspapers and magazines. A subsequent fellowship from Harvard enabled him to spend three years in study in Berlin, Heidelberg, and Vienna.

He became musical editor of the New York Evening Post in 1881. His writings include:

• Romantic Love and Personal Beauty (1887)
• Chopin, and Other Musical Essays (1889)
• Pacific Coast Scenic Tour (1890)
• Spain and Morocco (1890)
• Wagner and his Works (1891)
• Lotos Time in Japan (1898)
• Primitive Love and Love Stories (1899)
• Pictorial Wagner (1899)
• Anton Seidl (1899)
• Songs and Song Writers (1900)
• Edward Grieg (1905)
• Massenet and his Opera (1910)