Gibbons came from a mu­sic­al fam­i­ly: his fa­ther Wil­liam was a mu­si­cian in Ox­ford, and his bro­ther Wil­liam played the or­gan in Exeter. Or­lando’s mu­sic­al ca­reer start­ed at age 13, when he joined the King’s Coll­ege choir. He ma­tric­u­lat­ed at King’s Coll­ege in 1599, re­ceived a Bach­e­lor of Mu­sic de­gree from Cam­bridge in 1606, and Doc­tor of Mu­sic from Ox­ford in 1622.

Gibbons was a fav­or­ite court mu­si­cian: he was ap­point­ed or­gan­ist for the Roy­al Cha­pel in 1605, and for West­min­ster Ab­bey in 1623. He had a huge­ly suc­cess­ful ca­reer, and found time to com­pose an­thems, mad­ri­gals, fan­ta­sias, and dances.

Sources

Music

1. Angels
2. Angels’ Song
3. Song 1
4. Song 5
5. Song 4
6. Song 13
   • Canterbury
7. Song 18
8. Song 20
9. Song 22
10. Song 24
11. Song 34
12. Song 46
13. Song 67