Orlando Gibbons
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Orlando Gibbons
Orlando Gibbons (1583 – June 5 1625) was an English composer and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods.
He was born in Oxford. Between 1596 and 1598 he sang in the choir of King's College, Cambridge; he achieved the degree of Bachelor of Music in 1606. James I appointed him a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he served as an organist from at least 1615 until his death. He died in Canterbury, of apoplexy, and a monument to him was built in Canterbury Cathedral.
One of the most versatile English composers of his time, he wrote a quantity of keyboard works, around thirty fantasias for viols, a number of madrigals (the best known being The Silver Swan) and many popular verse anthems.