Ernest Bristow Farrar (7 July 1885 – 18 September 1918) was an English composer, pianist and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Life

Ernest Farrar was born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, but moved in 1887 to

Micklefield Micklefield is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Garforth, Aberford and Brotherton and is close to the A1(M) motorway. The population as of the 2011 Census was 1,893, increased from 1, ...

in Yorkshire, where his father was a clergyman. The rest of his life was very much centred in the north of England. He was educated at

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physica ...

, where he began organ studies. His studies at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

did not progress beyond his matriculation. In May 1905 he won a scholarship to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. There he studied with Sir

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

and Sir Walter Parratt and began friendships with

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845–1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a ...

and

Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer (, 8 October 1882 – 29 November 1957) was an Irish composer, mainly of operas and vocal music, among them the first musical settings of poems by James Joyce. Biography Palmer was born of Protestant Irish parents in ...

. He also took up several posts as organist in All Saints' Dresden, St Hilda's, South Shields and Christ Church, High Harrogate. At Harrogate, he worked closely with local conductor Julian Clifford and took on the 14-year-old

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 ...

as a composition pupil. In 1913, he married Olive Mason in South Shields. His best man at the wedding was Ernest Bullock. His career was cut short by the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, as he enlisted in the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

in 1915 and joined the regiment in August 1916. He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the World War I, First World War and the World War II, ...

on 27 February 1918. Farrar was killed on the Western Front at the Battle of Epehy Ronssoy, near Le Cateau in the Somme Valley south, west of Cambrai, on 18 September 1918. He had been at the front for two days. His grave lies just outside the churchyard wall in Ronssoy Communal Cemetery Extension, in a corner under a few trees. A

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

was said at Micklefield, on 29 September, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. A concert was dedicated to his memory at Harrogate by Julian Clifford on 17 September 1919, including the tone-poem ''Lights Out'', written expressly for Farrar, and Farrar's ''Variations in G On An Old British Sea-Song'' for piano and orchestra. His name is one of the 38 on the

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

at the Royal College of Music.

Works and legacy

Despite his short life, Farrar wrote a large body of music for orchestra, voices and organ. His works include ''The Blessed Damozel'', a ''Celtic Suite'' and the song cycle ''Vagabond Songs''. Two orchestral pieces, the suite ''English Pastoral Impressions'' and the ''Three Spiritual Studies'' (for string orchestra) were published posthumously under the Carnegie Collection of British Music imprint. However, apart from a few songs his works are now rarely performed.

Stephen Banfield Stephen David Banfield (born 1951) is a musicologist, music historian and retired academic. He was Elgar Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham from 1992 to 2003, and then Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music at the University of Br ...

has identified several characteristic traits in Farrar's music, representative of the English pre-war era: the use of folksong (''English Pastoral Impressions''); "muscular" settings of

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

(in the choral suite ''Out of Doors'', Op. 14); and intimate lyricism (in ''Margaritae sorori'', a choral setting of words by W. E. Henley from 1916).Banfield, Stephen: "Farrar, Ernest Bristow", in ''Grove Music Online''
/ref> Some of his orchestral music has been recorded by the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

on the Chandos label, and some of his songs and organ works have been recorded too. Today, Farrar is perhaps best known as the teacher of Gerald Finzi, who was deeply affected by Farrar's death.McVeagh, Diana: ''Gerald Finzi: His Life and Music'' (2010), pp. 9, 14-15
/ref>

was also deeply affected, and dedicated his Piano Sonata to the memory of Farrar.Jenner, Simon: ''Composers, Trauma and the First World War: The Sprouted Poppy-rooted Veins of British Pastoral Music'' (2014)
/ref>

References

External links

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Ernest 1885 births 1918 deaths 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century English classical composers 20th-century English organists Academics of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the Royal College of Music British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Devonshire Regiment officers English classical organists English male classical composers Musicians from Kent People educated at Leeds Grammar School Musicians from the London Borough of Lewisham People from Lewisham English male classical organists Composers from London 20th-century English composers