Joseph Corfe (25 December 1740 – 29 July 1820)[1] was an English Church singer and organist, known also as a composer.
He was born in Salisbury, son of Joseph Corfe (born 1705), into a musical family. He had a musical education from John Stephens, organist of Salisbury Cathedral, and became his apprentice.[1] He was a lay vicar of the cathedral. On 21 February 1783 he was appointed one of the gentlemen of the Chapel Royal, Windsor. He became the organist of Salisbury Cathedral in 1792.[2]
He died at his home in Salisbury in 1820, and was buried in the north-west transept of the cathedral.[1]
Corfe's major work was a volume of church music, containing a well-known service in B flat, and anthems. He wrote also glees, mainly arranged from familiar melodies. Other works were selections of sacred musical compositions, a Treatise on Singing (1799), and Thorough-bass Simplified (1806).[1][2]
Corfe in 1766 married Mary Barnard; they had six children. Their son Arthur Thomas Corfe took over as organist of Salisbury Cathedral in 1804.[1] Their son John David Corfe (1804–1876) was for many years the organist for Bristol Cathedral.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Corfe, Joseph". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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