John Garth (1721 – 1810) 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 ...

, born in Harperley, near Witton-le-Wear,

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

Life

On 23 June 1742, Garth became a freemason at the lodge meeting at the ''Bird and Bush'' in Saddler Street, Durham. Little else is known of his early life, but in September 1745 and August 1746 he promoted concerts in Stockton. In the latter year, he was living in Durham city, where he organised a concert series until 1772, selling tickets from his house, first in Sadler Street, thereafter in North Bailey, where he lived until after 1791. It appears that the Durham concerts were in alternate weeks to those organised by his friend

Charles Avison Charles Avison (; 16 February 1709 (baptised)9 or 10 May 1770) was an English composer during the Baroque and Classical periods. He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church in Newcastle and at St Nicholas's Church (later Newcastl ...

in Newcastle, where Garth played the

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. Garth's fame spread and he taught music to leading families in the region, as well as giving organ recitals. In Darlington, in 1794, he married Nancy (Nanny) Wrightson (1749/50–1829). He died at his home, Cockerton Hall, on 29 March 1810 and was buried on 5 April 1810 in the north aisle of St Cuthbert's,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Works

Garth is chiefly remembered for his eight-volume edition with English text of ''The First Fifty Psalms Set to Music'' by

Benedetto Marcello Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of the noble Marcello family and in his composit ...

(1757–65). He also composed a set of cello

concertos A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ty ...

(op. 1, 1760) and five sets of

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...

(opp. 2, 4–7, 1768–82), among other works.

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

took an interest in his music, among other neglected British composers of the 18th and 19th centuries whose work he sought to have published in modern editions.

Discography

*John Garth, Six Cello Concertos, The Avison Ensemble, 2 discs, Divine Art *John Garth, Accompanied Keyboard Sonatas Op. 2 and 4, The Avison Ensemble, 2 discs, Divine Art

References

External links

* English Classical-period composers English classical composers 1721 births 1810 deaths Musicians from County Durham English male classical composers 19th-century English male musicians Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England People from Witton-le-Wear {{UK-composer-stub