Joseph Barnby

12 August 1838—28 January 1896

SIR JOSEPH BARNBY, composer and conductor, born in York, August 12, 1838. Chorister in York Minster at age of seven; began teaching when ten; was an organist at twelve; and music master at a school when fourteen. At the age of sixteen he went to London, and entered the Royal Academy of Music, living with his brother Robert, a vicar-choral of Westminster Abbey. Soon after his appointment as organist of Mitcham Parish Church, he was called back to York, where he remained four years. Then he was organist at St. Michael’s, Queenhithe; St. James the Less, Westminster; and, in 1863, was appointed to St. Andrew’s, Wells Street. There it was he acquired and exercised the influence that was to work such developments in the Choral Services of the Church. At the Dedication Festival (St. Andrew’s Day) of 1866, his adaptation of Gounod’s Messe Solennelle (St. Cecilia) was performed, and the harp introduced. He conducted a performance of Bach’s Passion-Music (St. Matthew) at Westminster Abbey, Maunday Thursday (April 6) 1871, with full chorus and orchestra—a memorable event in the history of church music in this country; and, in 1878, he introduced, at St. Anne’s, Soho, where he was then director of the music, the St. John Passion of the same master. He resigned his position at St. Andrew’s in 1871, and that of St. Anne’s in 1886.

“Mr. Joseph Barby’s Choir” was formed in 1867, the first rehearsal taking place in the Lower Exeter Hall, February 17, and the first concert given in St. James’ Hall, May 28. From 1869 the performances were given under the title, “The Oratorio Concerts,” and great works were revived, notably, Handel’s “Jephtha” (February 5, 1869); Beethoven’s Mass in D (March 9, 1870); and Bach’s “Matthew Passion” (April 6, 1870). At the end of 1872, this choir was amalgamated with that hitherto conducted by M. Gounod; and, as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society, commenced giving concerts February 12, 1873. Wagner’s “Parsifal” was produced, in concert form, by this Society, November 10, 1884.

Barnby conducted the London Musical Society, 1878–1886, and produced Dvoràk’s Stabat Mater, March 10, 1883; he was also conductor, 1886–1888, of the Royal Academy of Music Concerts. In 1875 he was appointed Precentor of Eton College, an office he resigned in 1892, on his election as Principal of the Guildhall School of Music. For fifteen years, to 1876, he was musical adviser to the firm of Novello, Ewer, and Co. In November, 1882, he conducted the annual performance of the “Messiah,” by the Royal Society of Musicians; the performance of Dvoràk’s “Spectre’s Bride” at the Leeds Festival of 1892; conducted the Cardiff Festivals, 1892 and 1895; a Halle Concert, Manchester, November 14. 1895. Was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, Member of the Philharmonic Society, and, in 1887, was elected Hon. Member of Tonic Sol-fa College. In 1892 he received the honour of Knighthood from the Queen. To the grief of the whole musical world, his career, in the midst of its activities, was suddenly cut short by his death at London, on January 28, 1896.

British Musical Biography (1897)
James D. Brown & Stephen S. Stratton, eds.

Featured Hymn Tunes:

FOR ALL THE SAINTS
HOLY NIGHT

Collections of Hymn Tunes:

edited by Barnby:

Original Tunes to Popular Hymns for use in Church and Home (1869): WorldCat

The Hymnary (1872): Archive.org

Original Tunes to Popular Hymns for use in Church and Home, vol. 2 (1883): HathiTrust

The Congregational Mission Hymnal (1890): Archive.org

The Congregational Sunday-School Hymnal (1891): WorldCat

The Home and School Hymnal (1893): HathiTrust

Hymn Tunes (1897): Archive.org

edited by others:

Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship (1863)

Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book (1867)

Hymns Ancient & Modern, with Appendix (1868)

Sarum Hymnal (1869): WorldCat

Christmas Carols New and Old

Related Resources:

J. Spencer Curwen, “The style of harmony proper for congregational music,” “St. Anne’s, Soho,” Studies in Worship Music (London: J. Curwen & Sons, 1880), pp. 127–138, 179–183: Archive.org

“Mr. Joseph Barnby,” The Musical Herald, no. 530 (May 1, 1892), pp. 131–134: HathiTrust

W. & D. Downey, “Sir Joseph Barnby,” The Cabinet Portrait Gallery, Fourth Series (London: Cassell & Co., 1893), pp. 30–32: Archive.org

“Sir Joseph Barnby,” The Musical Times, vol. 37, no. 636 (Feb. 1, 1896): PDF

J. Bennett, “Joseph Barnby,” The Musical Times, vol. 37, no. 637 (Mar. 1, 1896), pp. 153–155: PDF

“An appreciation of Sir Joseph Barnby,” The Musical Herald, no. 576 (Mar. 2, 1896), pp. 74–77: HathiTrust

“Sir Joseph Barnby,” British Musical Biography, James D. Brown & Stephen Stratton, eds. (London: S.S. Stratton, 1897), pp. 26–27: Archive.org

James Love & William Cowan, “Sir Joseph Barnby,” The Music of the Church Hymnary (Edinburgh: H. Frowde, 1901), pp. 194–195: Archive.org

James T. Lightwood, Hymn Tunes and Their Story (London: Charles H. Kelly, 1906), pp. 210–212: Archive.org

Albert Mellor, A Record of the Music and Musicians of Eton College (Windsor, 1929), pp. 43–48: WorldCat

Erik Routley, “Joseph Barnby,” The Music of Christian Hymns (Chicago: GIA, 1981), pp. 101–102: WorldCat

William J. Gatens, “John Stainer (1840–1901) and Joseph Barnby (1838–96): the High Victorian Idiom,” Victorian Cathedral Music in Theory and Practice (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 170–201: Amazon

Paul Westermeyer, “Joseph Barnby,” Let the People Sing: Hymn Tunes in Perspective (Chicago: GIA, 2005), pp. 244–248: Amazon

Peter Horton, “Joseph Barnby,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology:
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/j/joseph-barnby

Nicholas Temperley, “Joseph Barnby,” Grove Music Online:
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.02085

Anne Pimlott Baker, “Sir Joseph Barnby,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:
https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/1465