John Farmer (c. 1570c. 1601) was an important composer of the

English Madrigal School The English Madrigal School was the intense flowering of the musical madrigal in England, mostly from 1588 to 1627, along with the composers who produced them. The English madrigals were a cappella, predominantly light in style, and generally bega ...

. He was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

during the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

period, and was also known by his skillful settings for four voices of the old church psalm tunes. 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. Farmer was under the patronage of the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. De Vere family, His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half cen ...

and dedicated his collection of canons and his late madrigal volume to his patron. In 1595, Farmer was appointed

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 ...

and master of children at

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

, and also, at the same time, organist of

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral () in Dublin, Ireland is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of ...

. In 1599, he moved to London and published his only collection of four-part

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

s, which he dedicated to Edward de Vere. His Lord's Prayer is performed widely throughout many churches and cathedrals, mostly in

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. It is included in Volume 2 of ''Oxford Choral Classics'', published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Giles Farnaby dedicated a pavan to him, included in the ''

Fitzwilliam Virginal Book The ''Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'' is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who bequ ...

'' as ''Farmer's Paven'' (no. CCLXXXVII). Farmer's '' Divers & Sundry Waies'' was the source of the fugues in

Michael Maier Michael Maier (; 1568–1622) was a German physician and counsellor to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II Habsburg. He was a learned Alchemy, alchemist, epigramist, and amateur composer. Early life Maier was born in Rendsburg, Duchy of ...

's book, ''

Atalanta Fugiens ''Atalanta Fugiens'' or ''Atalanta Fleeing'' is an emblem book with an alchemical theme by Michael Maier (1568–1622), published by Johann Theodor de Bry in Oppenheim in 1617 (2nd edition 1618). It consists of 50 discourses with illustrat ...

''.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. 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''.

Selected works

*'' Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting All Alone'' *''Fair Nymphs, I Heard One Telling'' *''A Little Pretty Bonny Lass'' *''Take Time While Time Doth Last''

References

External links

* *
A free recording of a song
fro
Divers & sundry waies of two parts in one, to the number of fortie, uppon one playnsong
at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

English madrigal composers English organists English male organists English Renaissance composers English Baroque composers 1570s births 1601 deaths People of the Elizabethan era 16th-century English composers 17th-century English composers 17th-century classical composers English male classical composers {{UK-composer-stub