Orlando Gibbons (ca. 1583 – 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, but he
made considerable contributions to many g...(+)
Orlando Gibbons (ca. 1583 – 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, 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. He 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. 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.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Gibbons).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATTB or
SAATB), I created this Arrangement of the "The Silver
Swan" from the First Set of Madrigals and Mottets of 5
Parts (No. 1) for Wind Quintet (Flute, Oboe, English
Horn, French Horn & Bassoon).
