Orlando Gibbons (baptized on December 25, 1583 – June 5, 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last great musicians of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. He was the most famous member of a musical family. By the 1610s, he was the leading composer and organist in England. His career ended early because he died in 1625. Although his body of work was smaller than that of his contemporary, William Byrd, Gibbons made important contributions to many types of music from his time. Experts in music describe his work as showing the change from the Renaissance to the Baroque periods.
Gibbons was born into a family of musicians. His father was a musician, and his brothers—Edward, Ellis, and Ferdinand—were also musicians. Orlando was expected to follow the family tradition. It is not known who taught him, but he may have studied with Edward or William Byrd. He certainly learned to play the keyboard as a young person. Without formal training, he was skilled enough to be appointed as an unpaid member of the Chapel Royal in May 1603 and later became a full member of the Chapel Royal as junior organist by 1605. By 1606, he had earned a Bachelor of Music degree from King’s College, Cambridge.
During his career, Gibbons had good relationships with important people in the English court. King James I and Prince Charles supported his work, and others, like Sir Christopher Hatton, became close friends. Along with William Byrd and John Bull, Gibbons was the youngest person to contribute to the first printed collection of English keyboard music, Parthenia. He also published other works, including The First Set of Madrigals and Motets (1612), which contains the most famous English madrigal, The Silver Swan. Other important works include This is the Record of John, the eight-part full anthem O Clap Your Hands Together, and two versions of Evensong. His most important job was being appointed as the organist at Westminster Abbey in 1623, a position he held until his death in 1625.
Gibbons built on the work of William Byrd to develop English madrigals, full anthems, and verse anthems. His efforts greatly influenced later English composers. His oldest son, Christopher, later taught John Blow, Pelham Humfrey, and Henry Purcell, who was a pioneer of the Baroque era in England. After his death, Gibbons was mainly remembered for his sacred music. However, since the early music revival, more attention has been given to his other works. His keyboard music has been promoted by Glenn Gould, and his madrigals and viol fantasies are now performed by early music ensembles. By the 21st century, almost all of his music had been published and recorded.
Life and career
Orlando Gibbons was born in Oxford. For many years, people believed he was born in Cambridge instead. This belief was shared by many people of his time and was written in early books about him. Even a monument in Canterbury Cathedral, built not long after his death, said he was born in Cambridge. It is possible that Gibbons himself thought he was born in Cambridge because he lived there most of his life and only spent the first four to five years in Oxford. The confusion grew because his father had lived in Cambridge for at least ten years before Gibbons was born. Although a 17th-century writer named Anthony Wood found a record of an "Orlando Gibbons" being baptized at St. Martin's Church in Oxford, people still believed he was born in Cambridge. Modern historians have since proven this was wrong. The baptismal record was confirmed to be real, and it was discovered that both of Gibbons's parents lived in Oxford at the time of his birth. This proves he was born in Oxford and baptized at St. Martin's Church there.
The Gibbons family can be traced back to Richard Gibbons, who died in 1577. He was a glover (someone who makes gloves) in Oxford and later became a hanaster (a type of official). Richard's son, William, was probably born in 1540 and married a woman named Mary. By 1567, William became a town official in Cambridge. From 1580 to 1588, he lived in Oxford, where he was a city councillor and head of the town waits (a group of musicians and guards).
While in Oxford, William and Mary had a child named Orlando, who was likely their seventh of nine surviving children. There is no record of his exact birth date, but he was baptized at St. Martin's Church on Christmas Day, 1583. It was common at the time for children to be baptized within a week of birth, so he was probably born no more than a week before that. When Orlando was about four or five years old, his family moved back to Cambridge, and William returned to his job there.
Orlando was born into a musical family. His father was a musician, and his oldest brother, Edward, was a composer and head of the Choir of King's College in Cambridge. His second brother, Ellis, was also a composer but died young. His third brother, Ferdinando, later took over his father's job as a town official. Little is known about Orlando's early life, but he likely learned to play the keyboard and viol (a stringed instrument) because of his family's musical background. At age 12, he joined Edward's Choir of King's College on February 14, 1596. He remained a regular member until sometime in 1598. That same year, he enrolled at King's College, Cambridge, as a sizar (a student who paid lower fees but did extra work). From 1598 to 1599, his name appeared occasionally in choir records, which might mean he sang for special events.
It is unknown who taught Gibbons to compose music. He may have studied with his brother Edward, but there is no proof of this. Another possible teacher was William Byrd, a respected English composer who was much older than Gibbons. Byrd and Gibbons, along with John Bull, later published music together. Since Bull had studied with Byrd, it is possible Gibbons also did. By the time he left the choir in 1599, at age 15 or 16, Gibbons was already composing music. There is no record of his activities between 1599 and 1603.
By 1603, Gibbons had become a musician in the Chapel Royal, a group of priests and musicians who served the king and royal family. His name appears in the Chapel Royal's cheque book, and he was a Gentleman Extraordinary (an unpaid assistant) waiting for a paid position. That year, King James I became king, and Gibbons likely participated in the coronation on July 25. In 1603, Gibbons received his first professional job, but the same year his mother and brother Ellis died. Ellis may have died from the plague. In 1605, a position opened up after the death of Arthur Cook, and Gibbons became the junior chapel organist. His brother Edward's friendship with Arthur Cook and John Bull may have helped him get this job. Gibbons held this position until his death.
In 1606, Gibbons married Elizabeth Patten. Her father, John Patten, was a member of the Chapel Royal and likely helped arrange the marriage. When John Patten died in 1623, he left Gibbons money and made him the sole heir to his estate. Later that year, Gibbons graduated from Cambridge with a degree in music. He and his wife lived in Woolstaple (now Bridge Street), in the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster, where their seven children were baptized.
By the 1610s, Gibbons was a well-known composer and the best organist in England. He became close friends with Sir Christopher Hatton, a relative of the famous Christopher Hatton, who was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. Hatton supported Gibbons's work, and in 1612, Gibbons published his first set of madrigals and motets, which included the famous piece "The Silver Swan." Gibbons dedicated this work to Hatton, saying the songs were composed in Hatton's home. Some people believe Hatton wrote the poems Gibbons set to music, but others think Hatton may have provided Gibbons with a space to work.
In 1613, Gibbons's music was included in Parthenia, the first printed collection of English keyboard music, which celebrated the marriage of Princess Elizabeth Stuart to Frederick V of the Palatinate. This collection included works by older composers like Byrd and Bull. Gibbons also wrote anthems for important people, such as the pavane L…
Character
Little is known about Gibbons's personality or character. Harley points out that the time between Gibbons's work in the Choir of King's and his later role at the Chapel Royal (1599–1603) is one of the biggest gaps in what is understood about him today. The lives of his contemporaries, Byrd and Bull, seem much more eventful in comparison. Byrd often had conflicts in court, even once facing his own father, William, over disputes about property or accusations of being Catholic in post-Reformation England. Bull, however, had to leave the country while working as the chief organist at the Chapel Royal due to charges of adultery. One event in Gibbons's life, though, is described by Harley as "the most strange event of Gibbons's career." A report from 1620 stated that Henry Eveseed, a worker in the vestry, attacked Gibbons. The report said that Eveseed "ran suddenly upon Mr. Gibbons, threw him down onto a standard, and tore his band from his neck." Other than this, Gibbons's life appears to have been relatively normal, suggesting he had good relationships with his employers and fellow musicians. His patron, Hatton, seems to have been a close friend. Hatton and his wife, Alice Fanshawe, may have been the namesakes of Gibbons's two children. Other close people in Gibbons's life included Wray, his father-in-law John Patten, and his older brother Edward. It is also possible that Gibbons had a close relationship with Prince Charles. The formal observation and reporting of Gibbons's death may indicate how close he was to the new king.
Gibbons's music may offer some clues about his character. His career focused mainly on the court, where he became increasingly successful. For example, Gibbons's appointments at the Chapel Royal at ages 19 and 21 were impressive achievements, similar to Byrd becoming the organist and choirmaster of Lincoln Cathedral in his early twenties. All four positions Gibbons held were based on his skill as a keyboardist. Contemporary accounts praised his talent in this area. During a 1624 visit by the French ambassador, John Hacket said upon entering Westminster Abbey that "At the entrance, the organ was touched by the best finger of that age, Mr. Orlando Gibbons." John Chamberlain, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton after Gibbons's death, wrote that Gibbons had "the best hand in England."
Music
His body of work shows he was comfortable writing music in the types of music he was known for, and he rarely tried new or unfamiliar styles.
Gibbons composed many keyboard pieces, about thirty fantasias for viols, several madrigals (the most famous being "The Silver Swan"), and numerous popular verse anthems, all with English texts (the most well-known being "Great Lord of Lords"). His most famous verse anthem is "This is the Record of John," which sets an Advent text for a solo countertenor or tenor voice, alternating with the full choir. The soloist must display strong technical skill, and the piece clearly expresses the text's meaning without being overly dramatic. He also created two major versions of Evensong, the Short Service and the Second Service, a longer piece combining verses and full sections. Gibbons's full anthems include the expressive "O Lord, in thy wrath" and the Ascension Day anthem "O clap your hands together" (based on Psalm 47) for eight voices.
Gibbons's surviving keyboard compositions include about 45 pieces. The most common types are the polyphonic fantasia and dance forms. His music shows skill in writing with three or four separate melodies working together. Most of the fantasias are complex, multi-part pieces that use repeated musical themes in different voices. His approach to melody, in both his fantasias and dances, involves taking simple musical ideas and developing them into longer, more detailed sections, as seen in "Pavane in D minor" and "Lord Salisbury's Pavan and Galliard."
Legacy
In the 20th century, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould supported the music of Henry Gibbons and called him his favorite composer. Gould wrote about Gibbons's religious songs and choir pieces: "Since my teenage years, this music has made me feel more deeply than any other sound I have ever heard."
In an interview, Gould compared Gibbons to Beethoven and Webern.
— Payzant (1986, pp. 82–83)
Gibbons died on June 5, 1625. His death is often remembered at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, where his music is sung during a special church service called Evensong. Some of his church choir pieces are included in the Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems.
A music expert and composer named Frederick Ouseley called Gibbons the "English Palestrina." Gibbons helped shape the future of English music by improving the traditions started by William Byrd, including both full and short choir pieces. He also taught music to his oldest son, Christopher, who later taught John Blow, Pelham Humfrey, and especially Henry Purcell, a key figure in the Baroque era. A modern music critic, John Rockwell, said that Gibbons’s work "showed that he was not only important in the past but also still relevant today."
The English model and actor Orlando Bloom was named after Gibbons.