- Ernest Farrar
Ernest Bristow Farrar (
7 July 1885 –18 September 1918 ) was an English composer, pianist and organistLife
Ernest Farrar was born in
Lewisham ,London . The son of a clergyman, he was educated atLeeds Grammar School where he began organ studies and in May 1905 won a scholarship to theRoyal College of Music . There he studied with SirCharles Villiers Stanford and SirWalter Parratt . He also took up several posts as organist inDresden ,South Shields andHarrogate .His career was cut short by the outbreak of
World War I as he enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in 1915 and joined the regiment in August 1916. He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant, 3rd BattalionDevonshire Regiment on February 27, 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 in 1918.His grave lies just outside the churchyard wall in Ronssoy Communal Cemetery Extension, in a corner under some trees. A Requiem was said at
Micklefield on September 29th, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels.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", the "Celtic Suite" and his song cycle, "Vagabond Songs". However, apart from a few songs his works are now rarely performed.
Today, Farrar is perhaps best known as the teacher of
Gerald Finzi . Farrar's tragic death affected the young Finzi deeply, and from the very beginning, most of his music was elegiac in tone.References
* [http://www.church-square.co.uk/Music/Story%20of%20Ernest%20Farrar.htm Farrar biography]
External links
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
