Giles Farnaby

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Biography

Giles Farnaby (ca. 1565, Truro, England - November 1640, London) was an English composer.

Farnaby grew up in Cornwall in the southwest coastal region of England, graduated from Oxford University he was 32, and later moved to London, where he remained until his death.

Farnaby lived in England during the so-called “Golden Age” of composition. A few of the outstanding among this galaxy of composers are William Byrd (1543-1623), Thomas Morley (1558-1603), John Wilbye (1574-1638), and Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625). Like the others Farnaby wrote madrigals, motets, psalms, other sacred music, and a large group of pieces for virginal. Fifty-two of these keyboard pieces were included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book collection. One of his madrigals, Come, Charon, may be seen in manuscript in the Royal College of Music, and part of another is in the British Museum.


Works for Winds


Resources

  • Giles Farnaby, Wikipedia Accessed 1 April 2017
  • Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 200.