Works
Farnaby is considered one of the great English virginalists, together with William Byrd, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons, Peter Philips and Thomas Tomkins 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 52 of his 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, canzonets and psalms.
Read more about this topic: Giles Farnaby
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“The mind, in short, works on the data it receives very much as a sculptor works on his block of stone. In a sense the statue stood there from eternity. But there were a thousand different ones beside it, and the sculptor alone is to thank for having extricated this one from the rest.”
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