Henry George Farmer

Henry George Farmer (17 January 1882 – 20 December 1965) was a British musicologist specializing in Arabic music. In his writings, he argued passionately for the strong influence of Arabic music over the musical traditions of Europe.

He was born in Crinkill Barracks, King's County [now County Offaly], Ireland, where his father (also named Henry George Farmer, d. 1900) was serving in the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment of the British Army. He was the only participant in the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music from the United Kingdom. He also wrote about Turkish, Scottish, and Irish music, as well as British military music. In addition to the articles listed below, he contributed very largely to the fifth edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music. He died in Law, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, aged 83.

A collection of Farmer's papers is housed at the Special Collections Department of the Glasgow University Library at the University of Glasgow.

Writings

Books

• Farmer, Henry George (1912). The Rise & Development of Military Music. London: W. Reeves.
• Farmer, Henry George (1925). The Arabic Musical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library: A Descriptive Catalogue With Illustrations of Musical Instruments. London: W. Reeves.
• Farmer, Henry George (1925). The Arabian Influence on Musical Theory. London: H. Reeves.
• Farmer, Henry George (1925). Byzantine Musical Instruments in the Ninth Century. London: Harold Reeves.
• Farmer, Henry George (1929). A History of Arabian Music to the XIIIth Century. London: Luzac & Co.
• Farmer, Henry George (1930). Historical Facts for the Arabian Musical Influence. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0-405-08496-X.
• Farmer, Henry George (1931). The Organ of the Ancients, From Eastern Sources (Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic). London: W. Reeves.
• Farmer, Henry George (1939). Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments. Glasgow: The Civic Press.
• Farmer, Henry George (1940). The Sources of Arabian Music: An Annotated Bibliography of Arabic Manuscripts Which Deal With the Theory, Practice, and History of Arabian Music. Bearsden, Scotland, issued privately by the author.
• Farmer, Henry George (1945). Concerts in 18th Century Scotland. J.C. Erskine.
• Farmer, Henry George (1945). The Glen Collection of Musical Instruments. Glasgow.
• Farmer, Henry George (1945). The Minstrelsy of The Arabian Nights: A Study of Music and Musicians in the Arabic Alf laila wa laila. Bearsden, Scotland (issued privately).
• Farmer, Henry George (1947). A History of Music in Scotland. Hinrichsen Edition. ISBN 0-306-71865-0.
• Farmer, Henry George (1950). Music Making in the Olden Days: The Story of the Aberdeen Concerts, 1748-1801. New York: Peters-Hinrichsen Edition.
• Farmer, Henry George (1951). Cavaliere Zavertal and the Royal Artillery Band. London: Hinrichsen Edition, lcd., Museum House
• Farmer, Henry George (1953). Oriental Studies, Mainly Musical. London, New York: Hinrichsen Edition.
• Farmer, Henry George (1954). History of the Royal Artillery Band, 1762-1953. London: Royal Artillery Institution.
• Farmer, Henry George (1955). The Song Captions in the Kitab al-aghani al-kabir. London: H. Baron.
• Farmer, Henry George (1959). Bernard Shaw's Sister and Her Friends: A New Angle on G.B.S. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
• Farmer, Henry George (1965). Handel's Kettledrums, and Other Papers on Military Music. London: Hinrichsen.
• Farmer, Henry George (1959). The Science of Music in the Mafatih Al-Ulum. Reprinted from the Transactions of the Glasgow University Oriental Society, v. 17.
• Farmer, Henry George (1965). Al-Farabi's Arabic-Latin Writings on Music in the Ihsa al-`ulum. New York: Hinrichsen Edition.
• Farmer, Henry George (1965). British Bands in Battle. New York, London: Hinrichsen.

Articles

• Farmer, Henry George (1925). "The Influence of Music: From Arabic Sources." Proceedings of the Musical Association, 52nd Session, pp. 89–124.
• Farmer, Henry George (1928). "'Turkoman Music'" (letter to the editor). The Musical Times, v. 69, no. 1027 (September 1928), p. 833.
• Farmer, Henry George (1929). "Music in Mediæval Scotland." Proceedings of the Musical Association, 56th Session, pp. 69–90.
• Farmer, Henry George (1930). "Greek Theorists of Music in Arabic Translation." Isis, v. 13, no. 2 (February 1930), pp. 325–333.
• Farmer, Henry George (1930). "Orchestral Drum-Names" (letter to the editor). The Musical Times, v. 71, no. 1050 (August 1930), p. 740.
• Farmer, Henry George (1931). "A Sample of Musical Biography" (letter to the editor). The Musical Times, v. 72, no. 1063 (September 1931), p. 833.
• Farmer, Henry George (1931). British Musicians a Century Ago. Music & Letters, v. 12, no. 4 (October 1931), pp. 384–392.
• Farmer, Henry George (1936). "A Forgotten Composer of Anthems: William Savage (1720-89)." Music & Letters v. 17, no. 3 (July 1936), pp. 188–199.
• Farmer, Henry George (1939). "Unknown Birthdays of Some Georgian Musicians." Music & Letters, v. 20, no. 3 (July 1939), pp. 299–303.
• Farmer, Henry George (1943). "Some Notes on the Irish Harp." Music & Letters, v. 24, no. 2 (April 1943), pp. 100–107.
• Farmer, Henry George (1945). "An Historic March." Music & Letters, v. 26, no. 3 (July 1945), pp. 172–177.
• Farmer, Henry George (1946). "'Ghosts': An Excursus on Arabic Musical Bibliographies." Isis, v, 36, no. 2 (January 1946), pp. 123–130.
• Farmer, Henry George (1949). "Crusading Martial Music." Music & Letters, v. 30, no. 3 (July 1949), pp. 243–249.
• Farmer, Henry George (1949). "Music Down Below." The Musical Times, v. 90, no. 1279 (September 1949), pp. 307–309.
• "Henry George Farmer. Birr man recalls sixty years of a town's musical traditions." Midland Tribune, 17 June 1961.
• Farmer, Henry George (1962). "Monster Kettledrums." Music & Letters, v. 43, no. 2 (April 1962), pp. 129–130.
• Farmer, Henry George (1962). "ʿAbdalqādir ibn Ġaibī on Instruments of Music." Oriens, v. 15 (December 1962), pp. 242–248.

Bibliography

• Henry George Farmer: a bibliography / by Carl Cowl and Sheila M. Craik; with essays by Trevor Herbert and Amnon Shiloah. Glasgow: Glasgow University Library, 1999. xxvi, 134 pp.

External links

• Henry George Farmer collection
• Henry George Farmer papers