Ellis, another brother, managed to
have two madrigals published in Thomas Morley's collectin o 1601,
The Triumphs of Oriana.
Orlando surpassed them all.
In 1695 at the age of 12 he became a chorister at King's
College Cambridge. At King's he was continuously envolved in the music
of the royal College, and a few times he recieved money for compositions
written for special occasions.
In 1606 he achieved his Bachelaureate in Music, after being appointed
organist to the Chapel Royal at the age of 21; a position he retained for
life.
By 1622 Gibbons star was on the rise, and he was awarded an honorary
Doctorate of Music from Oxford. Later that same year he was appointed organist
at Westminster Abbey. There he presided over the funeral of James I.
While returning to London with his Majesty, Charles I from Dover, Gibbons
died in Canterbury on June 5, 1625. He is buried in Canterbury Cathedral.
Of Gibbons seven children, only one Christopher seemed to have inherited
his fathers passions for music. Many of his key board compostions remain,
and he is seen as a notable contributor to teh stage music of his era.
Surprisingly most of Gibbons music was never published in his lifetime.
Most of his music was written for the Anglican rite, however there is a
large amount of keyboard music written for secular occasions along with
masterful madrigals, such as The Silver Swan. Gibbons did manage
to publish a book of madrigals in 1612, a Viol book in 1610, and
he remained the master of English organ music during his life.
Gibbons wrote over 40 anthems, yet only around 15 are polyphonic, the
rest are what are called "verse anthems". Within these 15 anthems
are such works as, O Claps Your Hands and Hosanna to the Son
of David.
Most of Gibbons music was published after his death. First among these
were the inclusion of Gibbon's services (2), preces, a few psalms, and
five anthems in J. Bernard's First Bookf of Selected Church Musick
in 1641. Three additional anthems were published along with the first service
in W. Boyce's Cathedral Music in c.1766. Gibbons music is the transition
between the period of William Byrd, and the early Baroque of Henry Purcell.
Some of Gibbons works:
 Great Lord of Lords
A typical verse-anthem. Written in 1617 for a vist by King James I of Scotland.
- See, see, the word incarnate
Another verse-anthem which traces Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection and finally ascension. There is an opening
motif which occurs twice elsewhere to unify this large-scale verse-anthem.
- O God the King of Glory
Verse-anthem of the Collect for Ascension which again alternates like the other verse anthems between solo and choir
sections. There is a tonal change towards teh end of the piece which marks Christ's Ascension.
 This is the Record of John
A verse-anthem telling the story of John the Baptist.
- O Clap Your Hands
A polyphonic piece rumored to have been written in conjunction with Gibbons qualifying for his Honorary Doctorate at
Oxford. This eight-part is Gibbons at his finest: contrapuntal, antiphonal and harmonically it is a masterpiece. The text is
that of the 47th psalm.
- Hosanna to the Son of David
Another fine polyphonic piece. Again it is in eight-parts and is set to the text for Palm-Sunday.
- Almighty and Everlasting God
A short polyphonic anthem which has to be my favourite of Gibbons music. The text comes from the Collect of the 3rd
Sunday in Advent. It is a quiet reflective plea.
- The Short Service
Economic needs of a service combined with the full freedom of polyphony. Ideal for Liturgical needs.
- The Second Service
A full service, with all the trimmings.
- Lift Up Your Heads SSAATB & optional organ
- O Lord in thy wrath rebuke me not SSAATB unaccompanied
- Thou God of wisdom SAATB
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