Ellis Gibbons (
bapt. 30 November 1573 – 14? May 1603) was an English composer of the late
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
who was associated with the
English Madrigal School
The English Madrigal School was the brief but intense flowering of the musical madrigal (music), madrigal in England, mostly from 1588 to 1627, along with the composers who produced them. The English madrigals were a cappella, predominantly light i ...
. Born in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
to a musical family, Gibbons was the second surviving son of William Gibbons, a town
wait
Wait or WAIT may refer to:
Music
* Wait (musician), British town pipers
Albums and EPs
* ''Wait'' (The Polyphonic Spree EP), by The Polyphonic Spree
* ''Wait'' (Emanuel Nice EP), a 2002 EP released by the band Emanuel Nice
* ''Wait'' (Stee ...
. By 1598 he was known to be living in Cambridge's High ward, and later the Market ward. He owned property in Cambridge and London and probably spent much time there, presumably as a musician of some kind (although this has never been verified). At the age of 28 he became one of only two composers to contribute two pieces to ''
The Triumphs of Oriana
''The Triumphs of Oriana'' is a book of English madrigals, compiled and published in 1601 by Thomas Morley, which first edition has 25 pieces by 23 composers (Thomas Morley and Ellis Gibbons have two madrigals). It was said to have been made to ...
'', a collection of 25
madrigals
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...
published in 1601. These madrigals were ''Long live Oriana'' and ''Round about her ''; modern commentators generally favor the latter. No other compositions by Gibbons survive, and some scholars have doubted his authorship of these works, ascribing them to his brothers. Two months after his mother's death, his career was cut short by his early death in May 1603, leaving behind his brothers
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
, Ferdinando and
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
, who would become the most famous musician of the family. Orlando's son,
Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
, was also a noted composer.
Life and career
![Cambridge town centre (Braun and Hogenberg)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Cambridge_town_centre_%28Braun_and_Hogenberg%29.jpg)
Ellis Gibbons was born to William () and Mary ( 1603) Gibbons in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
and
baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
on 30 November 1573 at
Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge
Holy Trinity Church is a church in Market Street, Cambridge, Market Street, central Cambridge, England, on the corner with Sidney Street, Cambridge, Sidney Street. Its current vicar is Stuart Browning. Theologically, it stands within the charism ...
. At the time early baptisms were commonplace, so his actual date of birth was likely shortly before 30 November. He was born as the second surviving son in a musical family, where his father William had recently become head of the Cambridge
waits
WAITS was a heavily modified variant of Digital Equipment Corporation's Monitor operating system (later renamed to, and better known as, "TOPS-10") for the PDP-6 and PDP-10 mainframe computers, used at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laborat ...
, and his older brother
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
would also go into a musical career. 1581/82 saw the birth of Ferdinando in Cambridge, who eventually took William's place as wait.
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
, who would become the most famous musician of the family, was born in 1583 in Oxford, although musicologist George A. Thewlis notes that Edward and Ellis were still living in Cambridge at the time.
Cambridge
subsidy roles from 1598–1600 listed Gibbons as first living in the High ward, and later the Market ward. Gibbons owned property in Cambridge and in the churchyard of
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, suggesting that he spent time in London. He was not the
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
of
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
and the
Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolu ...
as 17th-century biographer,
Anthony Wood and other early biographies claim. Modern
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
s do not accept this claim since Wood had conflicting statements earlier in his text and no supporting evidence has been found in the Salisbury or Bristol records. Additionally, records specify that Richard Fuller was the Salisbury Cathedral organist from 1592–1598, John Farrant from 1598–1602 and John Holmes ( 1629) from 1602–1610. Any official employment Gibbons did have is unrecorded, and while it was likely music related, there is no evidence for this.
At the age of 28 he became the only composer, other than the editor
Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley (1557 – early October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, singer and organist of the Renaissance. He was one of the foremost members of the English Madrigal School. Referring to the strong Italian influence on the Englis ...
himself, to contribute two
madrigals
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...
to ''
The Triumphs of Oriana
''The Triumphs of Oriana'' is a book of English madrigals, compiled and published in 1601 by Thomas Morley, which first edition has 25 pieces by 23 composers (Thomas Morley and Ellis Gibbons have two madrigals). It was said to have been made to ...
'', a collection of 25 madrigals by 23 composers (most a part of the informal
English Madrigal School
The English Madrigal School was the brief but intense flowering of the musical madrigal (music), madrigal in England, mostly from 1588 to 1627, along with the composers who produced them. The English madrigals were a cappella, predominantly light i ...
), published in 1601. He is known to have married Joan Dyer, likely the sister of the James Dyer who married Gibbons' sister Elizabeth in 1600, by at least November 1602; the couple did not have children. In April 1603, Gibbons' mother died and left him as executor and
residuary legatee of her will. Soon after Gibbons himself would write his own will on 14 May 1603, from which much of what is known about Gibbons comes from. Since the will was
proved only 4 days later by his brother Edward, musicologist
Edmund Fellowes
Edmund Horace Fellowes (11 November 1870 – 21 December 1951), was a Church of England clergyman and musical scholar who became well known for his work in promoting the revival of sixteenth and seventeenth century English music.
Life and work ...
speculated that the 14 May 1603 was also Gibbons' date of death. He was probably buried in the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of
St Benet Paul's Wharf
The Church of St Benet Paul's Wharf is a Welsh Anglican church in the City of London. Since 1556, it has also been the official church of the College of Arms in which many officers of arms have been buried. In 1666 it was destroyed in the Great F ...
, London and while his cause of death is unknown, he may have succumbed to the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
which killed nearly a quarter of London's population that year. His will gave his properties as
life estate
In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death when ownership of the property may ...
s to his wife Joan, with the
remainder
In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient (integer division). In algebr ...
to his brother Edward; he gave a legacy of
£20 to the child of his sister Elizabeth.
Music
![Ellis Gibbons - Long live faire Oriana (Cantus)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Ellis_Gibbons_-_Long_live_faire_Oriana_%28Cantus%29.png)
Other than two madrigals for ''The Triumphs of Oriana'', no works by Gibbons survive. He was the only composer to contribute two madrigals to ''The Triumphs of Oriana'' other than the editor, Morley. American musicologist
Joseph Kerman
Joseph Wilfred Kerman (3 April 1924 – 17 March 2014) was an American musicologist and music critic. Among the leading musicologists of his generation, his 1985 book ''Contemplating Music: Challenges to Musicology'' (published in the UK as ''Mus ...
furthers this oddity by noting that prominent English composers like
William Byrd
William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...
and
Giles Farnaby
Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 – November 1640) was an English composer and virginalist whose music spans the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque period.
Life
Giles Farnaby was born about 1563, perhaps in Truro, Cornwall or near London. ...
are excluded, which he explains by speculating that one of the madrigals may be by Ellis Gibbons' older brother Edward. Kerman even goes so far as to describe Ellis Gibbons as a "non-entity". Based on stylistic evidence, Fellowes suggests that both madrigals are by the then 19 year old Orlando, but notes there is no valid evidence to support this claim.
The pieces Ellis Gibbons contributed to ''The Triumphs of Oriana'' were the 5 part madrigal ''Long live fair Orianae'' and a six part madrigal entitled ''Round about her ''. The latter is considered by Fellowes and musicologist John Harley to be more sophisticated, although Harley notes that it is still demonstrated "at best an unpracticed composer". ''Long live Oriana'' has been criticized by Fellowes and Harley as being dull, and having "the appearance of being written at the keyboard".
Works
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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;Journals and articles
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External links
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Radio talkon
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
about the Gibbons family. Includes music from Ellis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbons, Ellis
English classical composers
Renaissance composers
16th-century English composers
17th-century English composers
1573 births
1603 deaths
English male classical composers
17th-century male musicians