17th-century copy of a lost original portrait by an unknown artist.[n 1]
Orlando Gibbons (bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical family dynasty, by the 1610s he was the leading composer and organist in England, with a career cut short by his sudden death in 1625. As a result, Gibbons's oeuvre was not as large as that of his contemporaries, like the elder William Byrd,[2] but he made considerable contributions to many genres of his time. He is often seen as a transitional figure from the Renaissance to the Baroque periods.
Gibbons was born into a musical family where his father was a wait, his brothers—Edward, Ellis and Ferdinand—were musicians and Orlando was expected to follow the tradition. It is not known under whom he studied, although it may have been with Edward or Byrd, but he almost certainly studied the keyboard in his youth. Irrespective of his education, he was musically proficient enough to be appointed an unsalaried member of the Chapel Royal in May 1603 and a full-fledged gentleman of the Chapel Royal as junior organist by 1605. By 1606 he had graduated from King's College, Cambridge with a Bachelor of Music degree.
Throughout his professional career, Gibbons maintained good relations with many important people of the English court. King James I and Prince Charles were supportive patrons and others, such as Sir Christopher Hatton, even became close friends. Along with Byrd and John Bull, Gibbons was the youngest contributor to the first printed collection of English keyboard music, Parthenia, and published other compositions in his lifetime, notably, the First Set of Madrigals and Motets (1612) which includes the best known English madrigal: The Silver Swan. Other important compositions include "This Is the Record of John", the 8-part full anthem "O Clap Your Hands Together" and 2 settings of Evensong. The most important position achieved by Gibbons was his appointment in 1623 as the organist at Westminster Abbey which he held for 2 years until his death.
Gibbons developed Byrd's foundations of the English madrigal, full and verse anthems, and by doing so he exerted significant influence on subsequent English composers. This generation included his oldest son Christopher, who would teach John Blow, Pelham Humfrey and Henry Purcell, the English pioneer of the Baroque era. After his death he was primarily remembered a composer of sacred music.[3] Since the early music revival however, increased attention has come to his other compositions, with his keyboard works championed by Glenn Gould, while his madrigals and viol fantasies are popular among early music ensembles. By the 21st-century almost all of his music has been published and recorded.[4]
^Harley 1999, p. 287.
^Fellowes 1951, p. 55.
^Harper 2008, "2. Works".
^Turbet 2016, "Introduction".
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OrlandoGibbons (bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist...
Canterbury, Kent, and was named after the 16th-century English composer OrlandoGibbons. He has an older sister, Samantha Bloom. Bloom initially believed that...
the second son, and first surviving child of the composer OrlandoGibbons. Christopher Gibbons was born into an already very musical family, established...
Amid Orlando Attack, Lawmaker Says". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2019. Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (June 14, 2016). "The gun the Orlando shooter...
pre-Baroque composers such as Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, William Byrd, and OrlandoGibbons; and 20th-century composers including Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg...
exclaims, "I will play the swan, / And die in music." A madrigal by OrlandoGibbons, "The Silver Swan", states the legend thus: The silver Swan, who living...
alternate between polyphonic and homophonic textures (MIDI rendition) OrlandoGibbons (bap.1583-1625) In Nomine à5 Five-part In Nomine, probably written...
School. Born in Cambridge to a musical family, Gibbons was the second surviving son of William Gibbons, a town wait. By 1598 he was known to be living...
(1999). OrlandoGibbons and the Gibbons Family of Musicians. London: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-840-14209-9. Journals and articles "OrlandoGibbons". Encyclopædia...
Guillaume Dufay Michelangelo Falvetti Giovanni Gabrieli Vincenzo Galilei OrlandoGibbons Jacobus Handl Heinrich Isaac Clément Janequin Orlandus Lassus Luca...
William Byrd. The principal Jacobean era composers included Thomas Lupo, OrlandoGibbons, John Coprario, and Alfonso Ferrabosco. William Lawes was a principal...
late Renaissance composers such as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and OrlandoGibbons, through Victorian composers such as Charles Villiers Stanford, Thomas...
Alfred Deller, counter-tenor singer, was born at Margate in 1912. OrlandoGibbons, composer and organist, died in Canterbury on 5 June 1625 and is buried...
unknown instruments from extinction. Celebrating Early Music Master OrlandoGibbons Early MusiChicago – Early Music in Chicago and Beyond, with many links...
meaning OrlandoGibbons Ah, dear heart OrlandoGibbons Dainty fine bird OrlandoGibbons Oh that the learned poets OrlandoGibbons The Silver Swan Orlando Gibbons...
reworking of a piece by OrlandoGibbons. He therefore solves the discrepancy by theorizing that the attribution of Christopher Gibbons may refer to him as...
Farrant Gerald Finzi Cheryl Frances-Hoad Henry Gadsby Bernard Gates OrlandoGibbons John Goss Maurice Greene Peter Hallock Calvin Hampton George Frideric...
dating from approximately 1562 to 1612 by John Bull, William Byrd, OrlandoGibbons, Giles Farnaby (51 of whose 52 known pieces are included), Thomas Tallis...
105 On a theme of OrlandoGibbons Song 34: The Angels' Song On a theme of OrlandoGibbons Song 22: Lento On a theme of OrlandoGibbons Song 24: Trio Allegro...
Vaughan Williams, Charles Villiers Stanford, William Sterndale Bennett, OrlandoGibbons and, more recently, Alexander Goehr, Thomas Adès, John Rutter, Julian...
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