The Cryes of London: Gibbons 400

England’s foremost composer of the 1610s, the prodigiously talented Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625), was appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal at the tender age of 20, then promoted as its chief organist only two years later. By 1623 he was Organist at Westminster Abbey, remaining there until his early, untimely death. The musical canvas on which he worked was especially refined. While Gibbons exerted an important influence on the first publications of English keyboard music, he was equally a master of sonority when combining consorts of voices and viols. The Washington Bach Consort’s superb vocalists will be joined by a viol consort in a program that offers the beauty of Gibbons’ finest works, led by Artistic Director Dana Marsh.