John Garth was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, born in Harperley, near Witton-le-Wear

Witton-le-Wear

Witton-le-Wear is a small village in County Durham, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Wear, to the north-west of Bishop Auckland.-Geography and administration:...

, Co. Durham.

Life

On 23 June 1742 Garth became a freemason at the lodge meeting at the The Bird and Bush in Saddler Street, Durham.

Little else is known of his early life, but in September 1745 and August 1746 he promoted concerts in Stockton

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

. In the latter year he was living in Durham city, where he organised a concert series until 1772, selling tickets from his house, first in Sadler Street, thereafter in North Bailey, where he lived until after 1791. It appears that the Durham concerts were in alternate weeks to those organized by his friend Charles Avison

Charles Avison

Charles Avison – 10 May 1770) was an English composer during the Baroque and Classical periods. He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church in Newcastle and at St. Nicholas's Church...

 in Newcastle, where Garth played the cello. Garth's fame spread and he taught music to leading families in the region, as well as giving organ recitals.

In Darlington, in 1794, he married Nancy (Nanny) Wrightson (1749/50–1829) and died at his home, Cockerton Hall on 29 March 1810. Garth was buried on 5 April 1810 in the north aisle of St Cuthbert's, Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

.

Works

Garth is chiefly remembered for his eight-volume edition with English text of The First Fifty Psalms Set to Music by Benedetto Marcello

Benedetto Marcello

Benedetto Marcello was a Venetian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher.-Life:...

 (1757–65). He also composed a set of cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 concertos (op. 1, 1760) and five sets of harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

 sonatas (opp. 2, 4–7, 1768–82), among other works.