Edward Gibbons

Edward Gibbons (bapt. 21 March 1568 – in or before July 1650) was an English choirmaster and composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Born in Cambridge, Gibbons's youth is completely unknown, but he later received degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. From 1591/92 to 1598 he worked at King's College, Cambridge, as a lay clerk and choirmaster. During his tenure he married Jane, with whom he had six children. Gibbons's whereabouts the next few years remain uncertain; he may have lived in Acton, Bristol or Exeter, but by 1607 he was the choirmaster of the Exeter Cathedral, where the choristers included Matthew Locke. By 1609 Gibbons received a special dispensation to become a priest vicar, becoming the head of the college of priest-vicars and succentor. Jane died in 1628, and Edward married Mary Bluet; the family was evicted from their home during the English Civil War, but moved to their estate in Dunsford. A few compositions of Gibbons survive: an organ prelude, two verse anthems, two works for viol consorts, and some sacred music. Of these, commentators have mainly praised the verse anthems, How hath ye City sate solitary and What Strikes the Clocke? Musicologist John Harley called the former particularly moving, and it was likely written for the 1603 London plague outburst to which Gibbons's brother Ellis may have succumbed to. Edward is the elder brother of the better-known Orlando; after the early deaths of Orlando and his wife, Edward cared for their son, Christopher, who also became a noted composer. Life and career Youth and education Edward Gibbons was born to William and Mary ( 1603) Gibbons in Cambridge and baptised on 21 March 1568 at Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge. At the time early baptisms were commonplace, so his actual date of birth was likely shortly before 21 March. He was the first surviving son of a musical family, where his father William was a member of the Cambridge waits. His brother Ellis was born 1573 and later became a composer, while 1581/82 saw the birth of Ferdinando, who eventually took William's place as wait. Orlando, who would become the most famous musician of the family, was born in 1583 in Oxford, although Edward and Ellis were still living in Cambridge at that time. Nothing is known of Edward Gibbons's childhood education.