Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 – November 1640) was an English composer and
virginalist
The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Description
A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ha ...
whose music spans the
transition from the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
to the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
period.
Life
Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps in
Truro,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
or near
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. His father, Thomas, was a ''Cittizen and Joyner of London'', and Giles may have been related to
Thomas Farnaby (c. 1575–1647), the famous schoolmaster of Kent, whose father was a carpenter. But it was his cousin Nicholas Farnaby (c. 1560–1630), who may have turned him to music. Nicholas was a
virginal maker, at this time a generic word that included the entire family of plucked keyboard instruments: the
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
,
virginal,
muselar and doubtless the
clavichord, and it is for these instruments that Farnaby's compositions are best known. Like his father however, Giles trained as a
joiner
A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...
or cabinet-maker, starting his apprenticeship in about 1583, and gave this trade as his occupation for most of his life.
He married Katherine Roane on 28 May 1587, and first lived in the parish of
St. Helen's Bishopsgate, in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The couple had a daughter, Philadelphia, baptised on 8 August 1591, when the Farnabys moved to the neighbouring parish of
St Peter's, Westcheap, and later a son,
Richard Farnaby
Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 – November 1640) was an English composer and virginalist whose music spans the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque period.
Life
Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps in Truro, Cornwall or near London. ...
(1594–1623). After Philadelphia's premature death, prior to 1602, the Farnabys had three more children: a son Joy (1599), a daughter, also baptised Philadelphia (1602), and a last son, Edward (1604).
In spite of his social background, hardly suited at this time to a university education, he graduated from
Christ Church,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
on 7 July 1592, receiving a
Bachelor’s degree in
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
. This was the very same day that
John Bull, his eminent fellow composer to be, obtained his degree: Bull evidently knew Farnaby, and influenced his musical style considerably.
In 1602 the family moved to
Aisthorpe
__NOTOC__
Aisthorpe is a small village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Aisthorpe is recorded as Æstorp in 1086, probably meaning "the secondary settlement to the east" from the Old English east and Old Da ...
in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, where they remained until at least 1610. Farnaby obtained a position in the household of
Sir Nicholas Saunderson of
Fillingham
Fillingham is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north from the city and county town of Lincoln, and just over west from the A15 road.
Fillingham Grade II* listed Anglican ch ...
, as music teacher to his children. By 1614 the Farnabys had returned to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, registered at
Grub Street
Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street. It was pierced along its length with narrow entr ...
,
Cripplegate in 1634, where Giles died in 1640 and was buried on 25 November.
Works
Farnaby is considered one of the great English
virginalist
The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Description
A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ha ...
s, together with
William Byrd,
John Bull,
Orlando Gibbons
Orlando Gibbons ( bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical famil ...
,
Peter Philips and
Thomas Tomkins
Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mus ...
among others. Unlike them however, he is the only one not to have been a professional musician.
His best known works are included in the
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, which contains 51 of his 52 surviving pieces. Notable among them are 11 fantasias, a wonderful and technically demanding set of variations called ''Woody-Cock'', and short but charming descriptive pieces such as ''Giles Farnabys Dreame'', ''His Rest'', ''Farnabyes Conceit'' and ''His Humour''. There are also four pieces by his son, Richard. His entire keyboard works and a biography are available in a modern edition.
In addition to his keyboard compositions, Farnaby also composed
madrigals,
canzonet
In music, a canzonetta (; pl. canzonette, canzonetti or canzonettas) is a popular Italian secular vocal composition that originated around 1560. Earlier versions were somewhat like a madrigal but lighter in style—but by the 18th century, especial ...
s and
psalms.
Adaptations
* Five improvisations on Farnaby's virginal pieces were written by
Edmund Rubbra (1901—1986).
*Two songs by Giles Farnaby appear in a jazz format on a UK CBS record album (63512) from 1969 by The London Jazz Four (aka LJ IV): "The Old Spagnoletta" and "Bony Sweet Robin". A reissue of this LP on UK label harkit Records HRKCD 8385 is due to be published in September 2011
* "Giles Farnaby Suite: Selected from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book for Symphonic Band and freely transcribed by Gordon Jacob" was published in 1970 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. It is an arrangement of 11 of Giles Farnaby's compositions: 1. Fantasia 2. The Old Spagnoletta 3. Giles Farnaby's Dreame 4. Farnaby's Conceit 5. His Rest 6. His Humour 7. Tell Mee, Daphne 8. Rosasolis 9. A Toye 10. Loth to Depart 11. Tower Hill
* In 1973 an LP called ''
Giles Farnaby's Dream Band
Giles Farnaby's Dream Band was a collaboration between the early music ensemble St. George’s Canzona, Derby-based folk group The Druids, and Trevor Crozier’s 'Broken Consort'. They were backed by three jazz musicians: Jeff Clyne (bass guitar ...
'' was released on
Argo Records UK. The band consisted of a one-off collaboration between three respected British early music ensembles:
St. George's Canzona, Trevor Crozier's Broken Consort and the choral group
The Druids. Backing them were three jazz musicians:
Jeff Clyne
Jeffrey Ovid Clyne (29 January 1937 – 16 November 2009) was a British jazz bassist (playing both bass guitar and double bass).
He worked with Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott in their group the Jazz Couriers for a year from 1958, and was part ...
(bass guitar),
Dave MacRae
David Scott MacRae (born 2 April 1940, Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand keyboardist, noted for his contributions in jazz and jazz rock, and his collaborations with musicians from the Canterbury scene.
Life and career
MacRae studied at th ...
(electric piano) and
Trevor Tomkins
Trevor Ramsey Tomkins (12 May 1941 – 9 September 2022) was a British jazz drummer best known for his work in a number of British bands in the 1970s, including Gilgamesh.
Biography
Tomkins was born in London and studied music at the Guildhall ...
(drums).
* A song entitled ''Giles Farnaby's Dream,'' based on ''Giles Farnaby's Dreame'' by Farnaby, appears on the 1976 album
Music From The Penguin Cafe by the
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having elemen ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnaby, Giles
1560s births
1640 deaths
English classical composers
English Baroque composers
People from Truro
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Renaissance composers
16th-century English composers
17th-century English composers
17th-century classical composers
English male classical composers
17th-century male musicians