Ernest Walker, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)
“ A warmhearted enthusiast of magnetic personality, with a deep belief in the ethical influence of music, he did much to popularise the classical composers and to elevate musical taste in the circles in which he moved. ”
Ernest Walker, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)
“ There were many side outlets to Farmer's untiring energies. In 1872 a body of friends founded the Harrow Music School, an institution designed to systematise his method of instruction in classical piano music. Special stress was laid on the study of the work of Bach, the educational importance of which Farmer was one of the first in England to appreciate. ”
Ernest Walker, Dictionary of National Biography… (1912)
“ His father, also John Farmer, was a lace manufacturer and a skilful violoncellist; his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Blackshaw, was markedly unmusical, but possessed of considerable mechanical inventiveness. An uncle, Henry Farmer, was a composer and the proprietor of a general music-warehouse in Nottingham. Farmer was apprenticed to him at a very early age after schooling at Hucknall Torkard and at Nottingham, and taught himself to play piano, violin, and harp. ”
