While Gibbs had many privileges in his childhood owing to his father's wealth, he was deprived of any permanent mother figure, having been raised by a nurse and five maiden aunts in three month rotations.

Gibbs's childhood was further troubled by his father's method of child-rearing; he sought to "toughen up" his son by making him sleep in the attic, forcing him to ride and jump a pony at the age of six, and throwing him into deep water in order to learn to swim.

Gibbs's musical talent appeared early in life: an aunt discovered that he had perfect pitch at age three.

Gibbs's facility as a student, specifically his talents in Latin, won him a scholarship to Winchester College in 1902 where he specialized in history.

[2] However, while at Winchester, Gibbs began music studies in earnest, taking lessons in harmony and counterpoint with Dr. E. T. Sweeting.

[2] It was at Cambridge that he studied organ and piano; however, his tendency to "drift off into improvising was too strong,"[5] and it became apparent that his future did not lie in musical performance.

At the Wick, Gibbs taught English, history and the classics, and also led a choir which became "very keen and competent.

The first was the formation of his friendship with poet Walter de la Mare, who accepted Gibbs's offer to write the text for the play.

[8] At the Royal College, Gibbs studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charles Wood,[8][2] and Boult himself.

With the help of the Director, Sir Hugh Allen, he managed to have some of his songs published thus initiating his musical career.

Later, Gibbs had a house built in Danbury, named Crossings, where he lived until World War II.

In 1923, Gibbs was asked to adjudicate at a competitive musical festival in Bath and quickly found that he had a penchant for this type of work.

During World War II, Crossings, his home, was commandeered for use as a military hospital, so Gibbs and Honor moved to Windermere in the Lake District.

After his retirement from his position as Vice-chairman in 1952, Gibbs continued to write music with more focus on large-scale works including a cantata and a choral mime.

[16] While Gibbs exhibited musical talent early in his life, he came to composition as a relative latecomer, not officially starting a career until his thirties.

[17] Gibbs is best known for his output of songs; he also wrote a considerable amount of music for the amateur choirs that he conducted.

Gibbs himself had little regard for the aural effect of serialism and atonality, although he made an effort to hear new works.

While it is clear by the end of the passage that the tonic key is F major, the chromatic alterations made in the first five measures may suggest C minor or F mixolydian.

In choosing subject matter, Gibbs avoided the lofty ideas of unrequited love and death and focused more on nature, magic and the world seen from a child's point of view.

[38] Compositions – Armstrong Gibbs Society Archived 27 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine The Festival Movement (London, 1946) "Setting de la Mare to Music," Journal of the National Book League no.