Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Life

Barnby was born at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. Joseph was a

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

from the age of seven. His voice broke at the age of fifteen and he studied for two to three years at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

under

Cipriani Potter Philip Cipriani Hambly Potter (3 October 1792 – 26 September 1871) was an English musician. He was a composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. After an early career as a performer and composer, he was a teacher in the Royal Academy of Musi ...

and Charles Lucas. He was narrowly beaten by Arthur Sullivan in competition for the Mendelssohn Scholarship. In 1862 he was appointed organist of St Andrew's, Wells Street, London, where he raised the services to a high degree of excellence. It was at St Andrew's that in 1864, Barnby and the choir performed two

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

s by

Alice Mary Smith Alice Mary Smith (married name Alice Mary Meadows White; 19 May 1839 – 4 December 1884) was an English composer. Her compositions included two symphonies and a large collection of choral works, both sacred and secular. Biography Smith was ...

; this is believed to be the first time that

liturgical music Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong, ...

composed by a woman was performed in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. He was conductor of "Barnby's Choir" from 1864, at first giving concerts at St James's Hall and afterwards at Exeter Hall. In 1871 he was appointed, in succession to

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

, conductor of the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society, a post he held till his death. Meanwhile, he had left St Andrew's for a similar position at St Anne's, Soho. In 1875, he was precentor and director of music at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, and in 1892 became principal of the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

, receiving the honour of

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in July of that year. His works include an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

''Rebekah'', ''The Lord is King'' (

Psalm 97 Psalm 97 is the 97th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice", also as "The Lord is King". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, a ...

), many

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

and

s, and 246

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

s (published in 1897 in one volume), as well as some partsongs and songs (among them, ''Now The Day Is Over'', and the popular lullaby using

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

's words ''Sweet and Low'') and some pieces for the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

. Barnby was an advocate of J.S. Bach's music, and proposed to Dean Stanley the 1870 performance of St John's Passion, with full orchestra and choir of 500 voices. He was largely instrumental in stimulating the love for Gounod's sacred music among the less educated part of the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

public, although he displayed little practical sympathy with

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. On the other hand, he organized a remarkable concert performance of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

'' at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London in 1884. He conducted the Cardiff Festivals of 1892 and 1895. He died in London and, after a special service in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

was buried in

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

. Discussing English composers, Barnby said: "Sullivan, of course, has done his work in a straightforward way, and gained all the success he could have hoped for. With regard, however, to men bitten with a desire to produce advanced music, the result so far has been scarcely so satisfactory." A possibly apocryphal story about him got as far as New Zealand: A young contralto at the end of a Handel solo put in a high note instead of the less effective note usually sung. The conductor, Barnby, was shocked, and asked whether Miss – thought she was right to improve on Handel. "Well, Sir Joseph, said she, I’ve got an 'E' and I don’t see why I shouldn’t show it off". "Miss –," rejoined Barnby, "I believe you have two knees, but I hope you won’t show them off here".

References

Bibliography

* *Gatens, William J. 1986. ''Victorian Cathedral Music in Theory and Practice''. New York: Cambridge University Press. . See especially chapter 9. *Palmer, Fiona M. 2017. ''Conductors in Britain 1870-1914: Wielding the Baton at the Height of Empire''. Music in Britain, 1600-2000 (Book 15). Woodbridge, UK: Boydell & Brewer. . See chapter 3. *

External links

* *
Joseph Barnby, 1838–1896
biography and list of works at Cyber Hymnal
Sheet music for "Sweet and Low"
Oliver Ditson Company, 1912. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnby, Joseph 1838 births 1896 deaths English Romantic composers English classical organists English conductors (music) English male conductors (music) Anglican hymnwriters English hymnwriters Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Knights Bachelor Artists' Rifles soldiers Composers awarded knighthoods Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods Burials at West Norwood Cemetery 19th-century English classical composers 19th-century British conductors (music) Musicians from York Oratorio composers English male classical organists 19th-century English organists