Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 – November 1640) was an English composer andvirginalist whose music spans thetransition from theRenaissance to theBaroque period.

Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps inTruro,Cornwall or nearLondon. His father, Thomas, was aCittizen and Joyner of London, and Giles may have been related toThomas Farnaby (c. 1575–1647), the famous schoolmaster of Kent, whose father was a carpenter. But it was his cousin Nicholas Farnaby (c. 1560–1630), who may have turned him to music. Nicholas was avirginal maker, at this time a generic word that included the entire family of plucked keyboard instruments: theharpsichord,virginal,muselar and doubtless theclavichord, and it is for these instruments that Farnaby's compositions are best known. Like his father however, Giles trained as ajoiner or cabinet-maker, starting his apprenticeship in about 1583, and gave this trade as his occupation for most of his life.

He married Katherine Roane on 28 May 1587, and first lived in the parish ofSt. Helen's Bishopsgate, inLondon. The couple had a daughter, Philadelphia, baptised on 8 August 1591, when the Farnabys moved to the neighbouring parish ofSt Peter's, Westcheap, and later a son,Richard Farnaby (1594–1623). After Philadelphia's premature death, prior to 1602, the Farnabys had three more children: a son Joy (1599), a daughter, also baptised Philadelphia (1602), and a last son, Edward (1604).

In spite of his social background, hardly suited at this time to a university education, he graduated fromChrist Church,Oxford on 7 July 1592, receiving aBachelor's degree inmusic.^[1] This was the very same day thatJohn Bull, his eminent fellow composer to be, obtained his degree: Bull evidently knew Farnaby, and influenced his musical style considerably.

In 1602 the family moved toAisthorpe inLincolnshire, where they remained until at least 1610. Farnaby obtained a position in the household ofSir Nicholas Saunderson ofFillingham, as music teacher to his children. By 1614 the Farnabys had returned toLondon, registered atGrub Street,Cripplegate in 1634, where Giles died in 1640 and was buried on 25 November.

Farnaby is considered one of the great Englishvirginalists, together withWilliam Byrd,John Bull,Orlando Gibbons,Peter Philips andThomas Tomkins among others. Unlike them however, he is the only one not to have been a professional musician.

His best known works are included in theFitzwilliam Virginal Book, which contains 51 of his 52 surviving pieces. Notable among them are 11 fantasias, a wonderful and technically demanding set of variations calledWoody-Cock, and short but charming descriptive pieces such asGiles Farnabys Dreame,His Rest,Farnabyes Conceit andHis Humour. There are also four pieces by his son, Richard. His entire keyboard works and a biography are available in a modern edition.^[2]

In addition to his keyboard compositions, Farnaby also composedmadrigals,canzonets andpsalms.

• Five improvisations on Farnaby's virginal pieces were written byEdmund Rubbra (1901—1986).
• Two songs by Giles Farnaby appear in a jazz format on a UK CBS record album (63512) from 1969 by The London Jazz Four (aka LJ IV): "The Old Spagnoletta" and "Bony Sweet Robin". A reissue of this LP on UK label harkit Records HRKCD 8385 is due to be published in September 2011^{[needs update]}
• "Giles Farnaby Suite: Selected from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book for Symphonic Band and freely transcribed by Gordon Jacob" was published in 1970 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. It is an arrangement of 11 of Giles Farnaby's compositions: 1. Fantasia 2. The Old Spagnoletta 3. Giles Farnaby's Dreame 4. Farnaby's Conceit 5. His Rest 6. His Humour 7. Tell Mee, Daphne 8. Rosasolis 9. A Toye 10. Loth to Depart 11. Tower Hill^[3]
• In 1973 an LP calledGiles Farnaby's Dream Band was released onArgo Records UK. The band consisted of a one-off collaboration between three respected British early music ensembles:St. George's Canzona, Trevor Crozier's Broken Consort and the choral groupThe Druids. Backing them were three jazz musicians:Jeff Clyne (bass guitar),Dave MacRae (electric piano) andTrevor Tomkins (drums).
• A song entitledGiles Farnaby's Dream, based onGiles Farnaby's Dreame by Farnaby, appears on the 1976 albumMusic From The Penguin Cafe by thePenguin Cafe Orchestra.

• Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1889)."Farnaby, Giles" .Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 18. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Free scores by Giles Farnaby in theChoral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free scores by Giles Farnaby at theInternational Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)