Early Music Alte Musik ,,, -1 Orlando GIBBONS Consort and Keyboard Music Songs and Anthems Rose Consort of Viols with Red Byrd Orlando Gibbons (1583 - 1625) Consort and Keyboard Music, Songs and Anthems Pavan a 6 [ZJ Galliard a 6 Behold, thou hast made my days The Lord of Salisbury his Pavan and Galliard k] Fantasia No. 1 for two trebles I weigh not Fortune's frown Itremble not at noise of war @JI see ambition never pleased I feign not friendship where I hate [iPl Preludium in G Go from my window Dainty fine bird Fair is the rose Fantasia No. 3 a 6 Fantasia No. 5 a 6 IXl A Mask (The Fairest Nymph) 88 Lincoln's Inn Mask Allmaine in G Fantasia No. 1 a 3 for the Great Double Bass Galliard a 3 The silver swan In Nomine a4 Glorious and powerful God The music and reputation of Orlando Gibbons have survived the ravages of time rather better than those of some of his contemporaries. His services and unaccompanied anthems have been a part of the central repertory of English cathedral choirs since his death, The silvers wan^ was quickly recognised as a classic madrigal by early twentieth century singers, and &meof hiskeyboard music was alreadv available in a 'modern' if rather faultv edition bv 1847. It is. however, only relatively recently that his superb contribhions to thi traditton of English viol consort music have been fully kgnised, as well as his important position in the develo~mentof the verse anthem. This recording represents ;nost of the main areas of Gibbons' output, apart from the music f&the Enplish liturgy, and shows not only his consummate skill in handling complex contrapuntal textures, but also the variety of mood of his work, and the directly evocative response to the texts he set. Like many sixteenth century composers, Orlando Gibbons came from a family of musicians. His father William was a wait (town band musician) in both Oxford and Cambridge, his eldest brother Edward was Master of the Choristers at King's College, Cambridge, and then Succentor (responsible for the organ and choir) at Exeter Cathedral, and another brother Ellis contributed two madrigals to 'The Triumphes of Oriana' in 1601. It was not surprising then that Oflando, born in Oxford in 1583, should follow in their footsteps. He sang as a chorister at King's College, Cambridge and later took the degree of Bachelor of Music there as well as receiving a Doctorate of Music from Oxford. It was. however, his move to London toiecome a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal around 1603 that must have brought him to wider public notice, and the rest of his career was centred uDon his duties as a 'roval' musician. Bv 1615 he was one of the two organists of the Chapel Royal, aid by 1625 had been promoted to be senior organist (his junior was Thomas Tomkins). In the meantime he had also accumulated the positions of 'one of his Majesty's musicians for the virginals to attend in his highness privy chamber' and that of organist of Westminster Abbey. Gibbons' sudden death (in 1625) of an apoplectic fit while attending with the rest of the court upon Charles I as he greeted his new wife Henrietta Maria at Canterbury, deprived the nation of one of its most renowned and respected musicians. We have no documentary evidence to suggest that Gibbons played the viol himself, but hi$ family background must surely have provided him with opportunities to become familiar with the instruments and their music. Town waits like his father were normally competent viol and violin players as well as wind players, and brother Edward certainly encouraged viol playing amongst the Exeter choristers. As a senior court musician, Orlando Gibbons may even have been a member of the King's Private Musick, and would certainly have worked with its number, who included some of the most forward-looking players and composers of their time: Ferrabosco, Lupo (descendents of itinerant Italian musical families), and the thoroughly English Coprario (born plain John Cooper). These musicians, under the patronage of the future Charles I, who apparently played bass viol with them, were in a positionto experiment with new musical styles and genres. By 1600 the viols, hitherto largely the domain of such professional instrumentalists at court, were being cultivated by wealthy amateurs, and Gibbons' fantasias, In Nomines and dances were circulated widely. Indeed he took the unusual steo of ~ublishinanine of histhree oart fantasias around 1620, 'Cut in Copper, the ike riot heretGore extant'. ~he'sixpart fantasias recorded here bear witness to Gibbons' versatility. No. 3 fl opens with a series of searingly dissonant suspensions before moving into more dance-like antiphonal ideas and a strong final section. No. 5RIg is perhaps less extrovert, but contains some tensely rising chromatic lines and a central section of great stillness m! serenitv. This .waciousness contrasts well with the closelv araued fantasia for two re.&essly chattering treblesm. Several of ~ibbonsviolcoisorts make use of the extraordinary low register of 'the Great Double Bass', an instrument a fourth lower than the conventional bass viol. We include a fantasia and galliard El which combine this with a treble and a bass viol, the organ binding together these rather disparate elements. The other forms available to composers for viol consort were dances, the In Nomine, and variations. Go from my windowijj is a beautifully crafted set of ten variations on a popular tune, initially heard in the lower treble part. Variation nine gives the two basses some excitingly fleet-footed running to do. The In Nomine was a uniquely English phenomenon: a fantasia based on a cantus firmus which used the plainkgpl lo ria tibi Trinitas'. A section of the Benedictusof the mass of that name by John Taverner was taken out of context as an instrumental piece, then imitated by most great English composers down to Henry Purcell. Gibbons' only four part versiona2] is probably a student work and pays homage to~avemer'soriginalby using several of the older composer's ideas. The six part pavan [II and galliard which open this recording show how functional dance forms could be elevated in the hands of a master: although they pay lip-sewice to the conventions, these are fully fledged fantasias in all but name. In his own lifetime, Gibbons was perhaps most renowned for his skill as a keyboard player. In 1624 the French ambassador referred to his playing at Westminster Abbey: 'the organ was touched by the best finger of that age, Mr. Orlando Gibbons', and the esteem he enjoyed as a composer for keyboard is acknowledged by the inclusion of six pieces in Parthenia published about 1613, alongside works by the much older Byrd and Bull. Both the Prelodium and the famous Lord of Salisbury his Pavan and GaHiardm come from this source. They are masterpiecesof structure, in which ideas develop organically, the florid decorative work seeming to grow quite naturally from its framework. The three shorter keyboard works - , played here on virginals, show a lighter sMe to Gibbons' musical character, though even here popular masque tunes are given some splendidly suave settings. Despite its title The First Set of Madrigals and Mottets (161 2) was Gibbons' only published book of secular vocal music. Although the parts are all underlaid with text, the title page advises that these songs were 'apt for Viols and Voyces' and several seem to suggest that they were conceived more truly in the older English form of the consort song for solo voice and viols. This style was particularly suited to texts of a serious, moralizing or philosophical nature, (perhaps implied by Gibbons' use of the unusual term 'Mottets' in the title). The set of four poems by Joshua Sylvester [m - [91 is a good example: the poet's rather self-satisfiedcontentment with his lot and lack of interest in ambition and wealth are matched by Gibbons' clarity of word setting. The more conventional love imagery of Dainty fine birdm and Fairis the roses elicit particularly subtle responses from the composer: each image is matched with musical ideas that raise the poetry to new heights. In The silver swan imitative counterpoint gives way to an almost hymn-like simplicity which throws the emphasis onto the finely moulded and heartfelt vocal line. The remaining items on this recording are examples of a particularly English genre: the verse anthem. It is a development from the consort song, where short choruses are interjected into the texture, breaking up the solos into a number of 'verses'. Later to beadoptedby thechurch with organ accompaniment, the verse anthem in domestic devotions would have used viols instead, the instruments weaving a delicate backdrop tothe passionate declamationsof the solo voices. Behold, thou hast made my days was written for the funeral of Anthony Maxey, Dean of Windsor in 1618. The solo verses, for tenor, are reiterated by the chorus, the final pleas of 'Q spare me a little' being highly affecting as they pass around the group of singers. In contrast Glotioos end powerful God Ej is a rousing piece with solos for bass and tenor, with ltalianate flourishes on the word 'arise' and building to a vigorous 'amen' with apparently unstoppable energy wholly appropriate to the anthem's title. The combination of drama, majesty and sincerity which mark these verse anthems is a fitting tribute to this master of English polyphony. 9 1994 John Bryan Rose Consort of Viols The members are: John Bryan, Mark Caudle, Alison Crum, Julia Hodgson, Elizabeth Liddle, Roy Marks, Susanna Pell The Rose Consort of Viols takes its name from the celebrated family of viol makers, whose work spanned the growth and flowering of the English consort repertoire.