Biography
John Francis Barnett (1837–1916), English music composer and teacher, was the son of composer John Barnett's brother, Joseph Alfred, also a professor of music.
John Francis carried on the traditions of the family as a composer and teacher. He obtained a queen's scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, and developed into an accomplished pianist, visiting Germany to study in 1857 and playing at a Gewandhaus concert at Leipzig in 1860. He came into notice as a composer with his symphony in A minor (1864), and followed this with a number of compositions for orchestra, strings or pianoforte. His cantata The Ancient Mariner was brought out at Birmingham in 1867, and another, Paradise and the Peri, in 1870, both with great success. In 1873 his most important work, the oratorio The Raising of Lazarus, was written, and in 1876 produced at Hereford. Many other cantatas, pianoforte pieces, &c. were composed by him, and successfully brought out; and he took an active part as a professor in the work of the Guildhall School of Music and Royal College of Music.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.