# Giles Farnaby



## clavichorder

Apparently he was the only one of the major English virginalists not to be a "professional musician," probably meaning that was not his primary means of income or day to day work. That being said, some of his keyboard fantasias are really nice. I believe he was influenced somewhat by John Bull, and what I've heard has that improvisatory feel to it.


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## Taggart

Wiki says that he graduated on the same day as Bull. Although he worked as a music teacher, he generally gave his trade as carpenter.

His pieces include 

A Toye

His Dream and Rest

Grove is not particularly complimentary about him:



> Belated or intermittent musical instruction may help to explain the uneven quality of his work. ... His music is correspondingly vital and telling; at its best it has a spontaneity and charm few of his contemporaries can rival. .... Farnaby was less well suited to polyphonic genres than to variations, where his weakness in generating expansive paragraphs mattered little and his resourcefulness in presenting rich figurative detail and unusual textures counted for much.


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## clavichorder

I read that. I say, even though for Groves with an english composer, that's not very complimentary, take the good.


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## Ukko

clavichorder said:


> I read that. I say, even though for Groves with an english composer, that's not very complimentary, take the good.


There's quite a lot of good to take. Maybe he was a finish carpenter.


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## arpeggio

*Gordon Jacob-Giles Farnaby Suite*

I have never heard it but I know that Gordon Jacob transcribed for concert band some of Farnaby's virginal music.


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## KenOC

arpeggio said:


> I have never heard it but I know that Jacob transcribed for concert band some of Farnaby's virginal music.


Can't find a recording. If it's anywhere near as good as Jacobs's William Byrd Suite (also transcriptions of virginal music) I'd love to hear it!

Amazon has the printed band music, not expensive.


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## Mandryka

clavichorder said:


> Apparently he was the only one of the major English virginalists not to be a "professional musician," probably meaning that was not his primary means of income or day to day work. That being said, some of his keyboard fantasias are really nice. I believe he was influenced somewhat by John Bull, and what I've heard has that improvisatory feel to it.


Are you going by the score of the fantasias or do you have a recording in mind? I know Giles Farnaby performances by Belder, Leonhardt and Hantai. There's a performance of a fantasia by Leonhardt which is very good.

It's strange how Hantai's high energy style seems to really suit English music.


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## Taggart

I've found a couple of Farnaby pieces described as Fancies Toyes and Dreams for Brass on You Tube

Simply Brass Quintet

and

Pentabrass. 1st price UMM national finals 26.11.2010

also

2011 Muskego High School Fall Band Concert - Giles Farnaby Suite 

which may be they.

There's also a youtube playlist with a lot of his stuff.


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## arpeggio

KenOC said:


> Can't find a recording. If it's anywhere near as good as Jacobs's William Byrd Suite (also transcriptions of virginal music) I'd love to hear it!
> 
> Amazon has the printed band music, not expensive.


Sorry. As one of the resident band junkies I should have mentioned that to my knowledge there is no recording available of the work.

Maybe someone out there will know of one.


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## clavichorder

Mandryka said:


> Are you going by the score of the fantasias or do you have a recording in mind? I know Giles Farnaby performances by Belder, Leonhardt and Hantai. There's a performance of a fantasia by Leonhardt which is very good.
> 
> It's strange how Hantai's high energy style seems to really suit English music.


I am mostly going on recordings. I am fond of Parmentier's rendition of his 10th fantasia(I believe) on this CD http://www.allmusic.com/album/musick-as-befitts-a-quene-mw0001363557, 7th track. The same piece is on Belder's Fitzwilliam book recording.


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## Mandryka

clavichorder said:


> I am mostly going on recordings. I am fond of Parmentier's rendition of his 10th fantasia(I believe) on this CD http://www.allmusic.com/album/musick-as-befitts-a-quene-mw0001363557, 7th track. The same piece is on Belder's Fitzwilliam book recording.


Glen Wilson recorded the complete fantasias for Naxos and I've just started listening to it for the first time. I feel enthusiastic, very enthusiastic in fact. He really lets go at times, completely wild sounding and unbuttoned. The muisc's full of ideas and the performances are spontaneous sounding. It would be interesting to compare and contrast these Farnaby fantasias with North German toccatas written in stylus fantasticus.

Thanks for mentioning Farnaby, your thread prompted me to find not only this wonderful Glen Wilson CD but also a recording that Koopman made of music from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book which I was unaware of before.

I think Farnaby's Fantasias are more fun than Byrd's Fantasias.

Can someone explain to me, what exactly is Musica Britannica? (I assume that that's what MB stands for in British music numbering.)


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## Mandryka

KenOC said:


> Can't find a recording. If it's anywhere near as good as Jacobs's William Byrd Suite (also transcriptions of virginal music) I'd love to hear it!
> 
> Amazon has the printed band music, not expensive.


It's here.


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## arpeggio

*Thanks*

It appears that one can only get it directly from the publisher, Gia:

http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=9228

Thanks for the lead. There are many recordings that one can get directly from them that are unavailable from major distributors.


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## Taggart

Mandryka said:


> Can someone explain to me, what exactly is Musica Britannica? (I assume that that's what MB stands for in British music numbering.)


Try their site. Where it says



> MUSICA BRITANNICA was founded in 1951 as an authoritative national collection of British music. It is designed to stand alongside existing library editions, and to explore the vast heritage of material still largely untouched by them, thus making available a representative survey of the British contribution to music in Europe. Although its chief purpose is an accurate and scholarly presentation of the original texts, it is also intended to provide a basis for practical performance.


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