Giles Farnaby (1560 in Truro, Cornwall, England - November of 1640 in London, England) was an English composer.
His father, Thomas, was a scholar and schoolmaster. It was his cousin, Nicholas, who turned him to music. Nicholas was a virginal maker (a small, rectangular, legless harpsichord popular in the 16th and 17th centuries). It is for his writing for this instrument that Farnaby is most well known. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1592 receiving a Bachelor?s degree in music. His best known works are included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, for which he composed 52 pieces. There are also four pieces by his son, Richard. In addition to his music for the virginal, Farnaby also composed madrigals, canzonets and psalms.
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