Edward Gibbons
Edward Gibbons
A few compositions of Gibbons survive: an
Life and career
Youth and education
Edward Gibbons was born to William (c. 1540 – 1595) and Mary (d. 1603) Gibbons in
Exeter and later life
By 1598, Hammond likely resumed his position as choirmaster, with Gibbons's subsequent whereabouts being uncertain for a few years.
External audio | |
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Nomine (arranged for recorder quintet) performed by the Consortium5 | |
Nomine |
On 8 August 1609 Gibbons became a
Orlando died on 5 June 1625,[11] and his wife followed the next year.[32] Gibbons and Jane assumed responsibility of their children, a task made easier by Jane's wealth.[24] Among their adopted children was the future composer Christopher Gibbons, who continued the musical study with Edward Gibbons and may have played the organ at Exeter Cathedral.[24] Jane died sometime the next year, being buried on 7 April 1628, and Gibbons married Mary Bluet, who was also wealthy.[2] Walker relays that during the English Civil War Gibbons rejected a £500 demand from the Parliamentary Commissioner so he and his family were evicted from their home.[33][22] However, Gibbons owned an estate in Dunsford, where his family settled.[2] The last payment records connecting him to the cathedral are from 1644/45.[33] Though the circumstances of his death are largely unknown, he seems to have died before July 1650, the month where the administration of his estate was given to someone else.[34] It is not known where Gibbons was buried.[35]
Music
External audio | |
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What Strikes the Clocke? (arranged for recorder quintet) performed by the Seldom Sene | |
What Strikes the Clocke? |
Edward Gibbons's few surviving compositions cover vocal, instrumental and keyboard music. The musicologist John Harley characterises his oeuvre as "competent, and occasionally moving".[2] His only keyboard work is the relatively short Prelude in D minor for organ.[25] The composer Thomas Tudway recorded it as "A Prelude upon ye Organ as was then usuall [sic] before ye Anthem",[25] suggesting that it was meant to be played before the anthem for the Morning and Evening prayers at church.[36] The anthem in question may be Gibbons's own, the verse anthem How hath ye City sate solitary for two alto soloists, choir and a small ensemble.[37] The work's text does not survive completely, but is seemingly adapted and modified from Lamentations 1 of the Book of Lamentations.[25] Given that the work includes lines such as "by the late plague and dreadful visitation", it seems likely that it was written after a bout of the plague.[38] Harley suggests that if the event in question was the 1603 outbreak in London, then "the words have a highly personal application", as they may refer to the death of Gibbons's brother Ellis that year.[38] Harley describes the anthem as "genuinely moving."[38] Both the Prelude and How hath ye City sate solitary are associated with the year 1611 by Tudway, though it remains unclear whether Tudway was referring to the year of composition or the year when Gibbons's obtained the cutos position.[37]
Besides the anthem, Gibbons's other surviving
Edward Gibbons's brother Ellis wrote two madrigals for The Triumphs of Oriana collection: Long live faire Oriana and Round about her Charret.[40] The reason for this is unclear; only the editor of the set, Thomas Morley, also contributed more than a single work.[40][n 11] To explain this, the musicologist Joseph Kerman speculated that Edward was the actual author of one of these works, albeit without more than circumstantial evidence.[41] Works by Edward Gibbons have been recorded at least twice, by two recorder quintet groups; Seldom Sene recorded What Strikes the Clocke?,[42] while Consortium5 recorded Nomine.[43]
Works
Title | Genre | Instrumentation | Key | Manuscript source: Folios[n 12] | RISM No. |
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Prelude | Prelude | Organ | D minor | r
|
RISM 800243988
|
How hath ye City sate solitary[n 13] | Verse anthem | Two alto soloists, choir and orchestra[n 14] | D minor | v
|
RISM 800243986
|
Commandments and Creed, and Credo | Credo | ATTBB | ? | Christ Church, Oxford Mus. 1220–1224 | – |
Awake and arise | Verse anthem | Three voices | G major | r
|
RISM 800002664
|
Nomine | Consort (In Nomine) | Five viols | ? | Bodleian Library, Mus Sch. d.212–216 | – |
What Strikes the Clocke? | Consort | Three viols | A minor | Durham Dean and Chapter Library Hunter MS 33 | RISM 806929140
|
No other works by Edward Gibbons survive |
References
Notes
- ^ Edward Gibbons himself preferred the spelling "Gibbins".[1]
- ^ The maiden name of Edward's mother is unknown.[4]
- ^ The first son, Richard, died as an infant.[6]
- choirmaster in 1591/92 meant he learned the necessary skills for the post earlier in his life.[1]
- ^ Although most of these biographies were probably repeating on Wood's initial account.[17]
- ^ See note 91 in Harley (1999, pp. 15–16) for a comprehensive overview of the history of sources reporting on Gibbons's purported Bristol post.
- ^ Fellowes speculated that the recording of such a post may originate from Gibbons's later position as succentor of Exeter, where his duties may have included organ-playing.[18]
- ^ Fellowes noted that it the description may have simply meant he owned property there.[17]
- ^ Such typos were considerably common in the copying wills to the probate register. See note 117 in Harley (1999, p. 19)
- ^ Translated as "unmatched skill and skill in music and singing" from the original Latin: "ac scientia in arte musica & cantandi perititia singularis"[29]
- ^ See Ellis Gibbons § Music for further information on this oddity.
- rectorespectively; in left-right language books, verso is the front page while recto is the back page.
- ^ Also transmitted as How doth the city sit solitary[44]
- ^ The instrumental parts are presumably for viols, though other instruments likely doubled the soloists.[38]
Citations
- ^ a b c d Harley 1999, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harley 2008.
- ^ Fellowes 1951, p. 20.
- ^ Harley 1999, p. 5.
- ^ Rayner & Rayner 1970, p. 151.
- ^ Harley 1999, p. 7.
- ^ Harley 1999, p. 8.
- ^ Thewlis 1940, p. 32.
- ^ Harley 1999, pp. 14–16.
- ^ a b c d Harley 1999, p. 17.
- ^ a b Britannica.
- ^ Fellowes 1951, p. 33.
- ^ Thewlis 1940, p. 33.
- ^ Fellowes 1951, p. 27.
- ^ Harley 1999, p. 270.
- ^ a b Fellowes 1951, p. 21.
- ^ a b c d e f Fellowes 1951, p. 22.
- ^ a b c Fellowes 1951, p. 25.
- ^ a b c d Harley 1999, p. 19.
- ^ Harley 1999, p. 16.
- ^ Harley 1999, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b Walker 1714, p. 32.
- ^ Fellowes 1951, pp. 22–23.
- ^ a b c Rayner & Rayner 1970, p. 152.
- ^ a b c d Harley 1999, p. 20.
- ^ OED.
- ^ Fellowes 1951, p. 24.
- ^ a b Fellowes 1951, p. 23.
- ^ a b See note 20 in Harley (1999, p. 19)
- ^ Harley 1999, pp. 21–22.
- ^ a b c Harley 1999, p. 22.
- ^ Fellowes 1951, p. 50.
- ^ a b Harley 1999, p. 23.
- ^ Harley 1999, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Harley 1999, p. 24.
- ^ Cox 1999, p. 192.
- ^ a b c Harley 1999, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b c d e f g Harley 1999, p. 21.
- ^ Milsom 1997, p. 583.
- ^ a b Fellowes 1951, p. 30.
- ^ Kerman 1962, p. 199.
- ^ "Delight in Musicke". MusicWeb International. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "As our sweet Cords with Discords mixed be: English Renaissance Consort Music". Resonus Classics. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ Maitland 1889.
Sources
Early
- doi:10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.013.10594. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- OCLC 79528970.
Modern
- Books
- Cox, Geoffrey (1999). "13. English organ music to c1700". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas; ISBN 978-1-139-00211-0.
- ISBN 978-0-208-00848-0.
- Harley, John (1999). Orlando Gibbons and the Gibbons Family of Musicians. London: ISBN 978-1-840-14209-9.
- Journals and articles
- "Orlando Gibbons". Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2020.
- Harley, John (2008) [2004]. "Gibbons, Edward (bap. 1568, d. in or before 1650), musician". ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- ISBN 978-1878528063.
- Milsom, John (November 1997). "The Passing of Time". JSTOR 3128406.
- Rayner, Clare G.; Rayner, Sheila Finch (1970). "Christopher Gibbons: "That Famous Musician"". JSTOR 20532058.
- Thewlis, George A. (January 1940). "Oxford and the Gibbons Family". Music & Letters. 21 (1): 31–33. JSTOR 727619.
- "vicar: 2a". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (subscription required)
External links
- Free scores by Edward Gibbons at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Radio talk on BBC Radio 3 about the Gibbons family. Includes music from Edward