Orlando Gibbons was a genius. We can probably all agree that this term is massively anachronistic. However, justified, I think, in order to establish his music on the same elevated niveau as Purcell or Beethoven or Schubert. While it is difficult to make such analogies when his music is still relatively rarely performed by comparison with these more illustrious names, but Gibbons' fecundity of imagination, his masterly handling of his material, his emotional depth and maturity, the exquisite turns of phrase, his harmonic assurance, his contrapuntal ease and mastery - all this puts him in the first rank of composers - Richard Boothby. "My Days is a ritualised memory piece about Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) written for two ensembles whose recordings informed so much of my musical development. I feel like I spend half of my life trying to trick string players to play like Fretwork, and vocalists to sing like the Hilliard Ensemble, so it was with enormous pleasure that I composed this piece." - Nico Muhly

To mark the 400th anniversary of Orlando Gibbons's death, organist and harpsichordist Stephen Farr presents a stunning tribute to one of England's greatest composers of the early seventeenth century. Gibbons, who served at the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey, was celebrated for his virtuosity and innovation, bridging the Renaissance and Baroque eras. This album explores the full breadth of his keyboard oeuvre, from intricate fantasias and evocative pavans to lively dances and variation sets. The album includes the Fantasia for Double Organ, showcasing Gibbons's mastery of contrapuntal invention, and the poignant Pavan and Galliard Lord Salisbury, composed in honour of the composer's noble patron. Farr's insightful interpretations reveal the expressive depth and technical brilliance of Gibbons's music. A compelling homage, this recording underscores Gibbons's lasting influence on English keyboard music.

Leading performers of 17th-century music Fretwork, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts and the Magdalena Consort (directed by Peter Harvey) combine forces under the artistic direction of William Hunt for this first complete recording of the consort anthems of Orlando Gibbons. Gibbons’ music is one of the artistic glories of the first Stuart reign. Amongst his sacred compositions, verse anthems such as This is the record of John and Behold, thou hast made my days are long acknowledged masterpieces, amongst the greatest in all English sacred music, but best known to most in their setting for choir and organ. Here they are presented together with an array of other great anthems, some of them scarcely known, in their more intricate and colorful versions for consort accompaniment. Following the instruction of such contemporary writers as Morley and Caccini, these radical new performances place communication of text at the forefront, seeking to rediscover the dramatic essence of the verse anthem that made it arguably the most effective musical creation of the English Reformation. With the incisive declamatory skill of several of the UK’s leading period performers, they reveal the extraordinary rhetorical and poetic power of this music, as it might have been heard in the Chapel Royal and the private domestic chapels of early 17th century England.

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REVIEW:

Skip straight to track 3 and Gibbons's first In Nomine a 5, and listen to the blanched brilliance, the glistening cobweb delicacy of tone from Fretwork's viols. The effect of the perilous A466 tuning heights is of uncanny beauty, familiar notes polished up to a new sheen and luster.

– Gramophone

Classical Music

Originally released in 2001, ‘Gibbons: The Woods So Wild’, played by keyboardist John Toll and awarded by ClassicsToday its top rating of 10/10 when first released, is now re-issued as part of Linn’s ECHO series. The 24 pieces on this recording are illustrative of the core of the ‘golden age’ Elizabethan repertoire. The Fantasias are the most remarkable group of pieces, the ones where Gibbons best displays his contrapuntal skills and influential techniques. John Toll was an organist and harpsichordist with a reputation for excellence in the field of early music who sadly passed away in 2001.

Classical Music

Includes fantasia(s) à 4 by Orlando Gibbons (Renaissance). Soloist: Laurence Cummings.

Orlando Gibbons' exquisite tunes and rock-solid bass-lines for the first English hymn-book, Hymnes and Songs of the Church, were written to be sung and played both at home and in church.

Originally released on Avie, the 2004 Gramophone Award winner ‘Gibbons: Consorts for viols’ is now part of Linn’s ECHO re-issue series. With this unique collection juxtaposing Anthems and Madrigals with Fantasies and Dances, Phantasm are firmly in their element of the 16th c. English consort tradition, infusing Gibbons’ passionate polyphony and rapturous harmonies with a suaveness unmatched by contemporary performing viol ensembles. Critics have described their performances and recordings as 'intoxicating', 'revelatory', 'electrifying' and ‘pervaded by a truly burning spirit'.

GIBBONS: Consort and Keyboard Music / Songs and Anthems

Includes anthem(s) by Orlando Gibbons (Renaissance). Ensembles: Fretwork, Cambridge Trinity College Choir. Conductor: Richard Marlow. Soloists: Christopher Allsop, Philip Rushforth.