St Peter's Parish News
Thursday 1 January 1970
Orlando Gibbons 400th anniversary
Yesterday marked the 400th anniversary of the death of English composer Orlando Gibbons, who died on 5 June in 1625 at Canterbury. A graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, his music was enjoyed in the courts of King James I and Charles I. Gibbons also served as the organist at Westminster Abbey. We give thanks for his music that enriches our worship today – hymns such as ‘Drop, drop slow tears’ (usually sung in Holy Week), ‘Forth in thy name O Lord’ are in our hymnbooks today, and church choirs sing anthems such as ‘This is the record of John’ (Epiphany) and ‘O clap you hands’. Our May Day madrigal singers often enjoy performing many of his madrigals, such as ‘The Silver Swan’.
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