John Farmer (composer)

John Farmer (c. 1570 – c. 1601) was an important composer of the English Madrigal School.[1] He was born in England during the Elizabethan period, and was also known by his skillful settings for four voices of the old church psalm tunes.[2] His exact date of birth is not known – a 1926 article by Grattan Flood posits a date around 1564 to 1565 based on matriculation records.[3] Farmer was under the patronage of the Earl of Oxford and dedicated his collection of canons and his late madrigal volume to his patron.[4]

In 1595, Farmer was appointed organist and master of children at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and also, at the same time, organist of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.[5][6] In 1599, he moved to London and published his only collection of four-part madrigals, which he dedicated to Edward de Vere.

His Lord's Prayer is performed widely throughout many churches and cathedrals, mostly in Britain.[7] It is included in Volume 2 of Oxford Choral Classics, published by Oxford University Press.[8]

Giles Farnaby dedicated a pavan to him,[citation needed] included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book as Farmer's Paven (no. CCLXXXVII).

Farmer's Divers & Sundry Waies was the source of the fugues in Michael Maier's book, Atalanta Fugiens.[9] Of the 50 three-part fugues in Atalanta Fugiens, 40 have been shown by Ludwig to be based on Farmer's compositions in Divers & Sundry Waies.

Title page of Farmer's 1591 Divers & Sundry Waies

Selected works

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References

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  1. ^ Unger, Melvin P. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Choral Music. Scarecrow Press. p. 295. ISBN 9780810873926.
  2. ^ Grove, Sir George (1908). Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 2. New York: McMillan. p. 11.
  3. ^ Flood, W. H. Grattan (1926). "New Light on Late Tudor Composers: XV. John Farmer". The Musical Times. 67 (997): 219–220. doi:10.2307/912508. JSTOR 912508.
  4. ^ Hutton, William Holden (1889). "Farmer, John" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 18. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  5. ^ Boydell, Bara (2004). A History of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1843830443.
  6. ^ "Framer, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9168. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ Byram-Wigfield, Ben (2021). "Tudor Settings of the Lord's Prayer". www.ancientgroove.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  8. ^ "English Church Music, Volume 2: Canticles and Responses". group.oup.com. Oxford University Press. 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  9. ^ Ludwig, Loren. "John Farmer's Sundry Waies: The English Origin of Michael Maier's 'Alchemical Fugues'". Furnace and Fugue: A Digital Edition of Michael Maier's "Atalanta fugiens" (1618) with Scholarly Commentary. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2020. doi:10.26300/bdp.ff.ludwig
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