Orlando Gibbons
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.
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.
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.
This generation included his oldest son Christopher, who would teach John Blow, Pelham Humfrey and Henry Purcell, the English pioneer of the Baroque era.
[6][n 2] This was accepted as fact by his contemporaries, stated in multiple early biographies and even recorded on his memorial monument in Canterbury Cathedral, erected soon after his death.
[19][4] Orlando was born into a musical family: not only was his father a musician, but his oldest brother, Edward, was a composer and master of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.
[18] Another possible composition teacher is William Byrd, who was at least 40 years his senior and the most respected English composer at the time.
[29] Earlier that year King James I had ascended to the throne; in all likelihood Gibbons took part in the hymns and anthems of the 25 July coronation.
[25][36] Her father, John Patten, was a yeoman of the vestry in the Chapel Royal, and probably well acquainted with Gibbons, which would have helped to bring about the marriage.
[37] When John Patten died in 1623, he made Gibbons his sole heir, residuary legatee and left 200 pounds for his children.
[2] Gibbons dedicated the entire set of works to Hatton: "[The songs] were most of them composed in your owne [sic] house, and doe therefore properly belong unto you, as Lord of the Soile; the language they speake you provided them, I onely furnished them with Tongues to utter the same name".
[44] The English musician Frederick Bridge interpreted this as implying that Hatton wrote some or all of the poems that Gibbons set to music in his Madrigals and Motets.
[46] The death of King James's son, Prince Henry Frederick, was a considerable shock to the English, as many considered him a promising heir to the Kingdom.
[47] James in particular went into a deep depression; many wrote works to mourn Henry's death, including writers Ben Jonson and George Chapman as well as composers John Coperario and the retired Byrd.
[50] Frederick returned to Heidelberg with Elizabeth in 1613 and the couple was accompanied by a vast entourage, including Coperario and the harpist Daniel Callinder.
[46][63] The author Sir John Hawkins and musicologists Fellowes and David Mateer state unequivocally that Gibbons was awarded a doctorate along with Heather, and cite O clap your hands as the composer’s qualifying exercise for the degree.
[52][65] Specifically, Harley cites a record in the Cheque book of the Chapel Royal that refers to William Heather as "doctor" but Gibbons as "senior organist.
[66] The most convincing piece of evidence is thought to be the absence of mention of the supposed doctorate of music on Gibbons's Cambridge monument, erected in his memory when he died.
[70] During late May 1625, the English court was preparing to receive Queen Henrietta Maria, whom the now King Charles I of England had married through proxy in France on 1 May.
[32][73] His wife Elizabeth died a little over a year later, in her mid-30s, leaving Orlando's eldest brother, Edward to care for the orphaned children.
[26] Harley names this, along with the period between his time in the Choir of King's and his appointment at the Chapel Royal (1599–1603), as the largest gaps in the modern understanding of Gibbons.
[26] Byrd frequently found himself in court—once even against Gibbons's father William[76]—in disputes over property or accusations that he was Catholic in post-Reformation England.
[81] Indeed Gibbons's Chapel Royal posts at age 19, and then 21, would have been an impressive feat, comparable to Byrd becoming the organist and choirmaster of the Lincoln Cathedral in his early twenties.
[3] Contemporary accounts hold him in high regard in this respect; during a 1624 visit from 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.
"[52] John Chamberlain stated in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton on Gibbons's death that he had "the best hand in England".
Perhaps his best-known verse anthem is "This Is the Record of John", which sets an Advent text for solo countertenor or tenor, alternating with full chorus.
[86] In the 20th century, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould championed Gibbons's music, and named him as his favourite composer.
[87] Gould wrote of Gibbons's hymns and anthems: "ever since my teen-age years this music ... has moved me more deeply than any other sound experience I can think of.
