AAM completes first-ever recording of music by Christopher Gibbons

The AAM has just finished recording a mix of instrumental fantasias, organ voluntaries and choral works by Christopher Gibbons. Wondering who he is, or why we're bothering to perform his music? Read on to find out...

Who was he?

Christopher Gibbons lived from 1615 to 1676. He was the second son of court musician Orlando Gibbons, and began life as a boy treble in the Chapel Royal. In 1638 he was appointed 'organist and singing man' at Winchester Cathedral; but then the vicissitudes of the Civil War meant that life became a little trickier. He became a soldier and then, in 1649, a freelance music teacher. On the restoration of Charles II in 1660 he was appointed organist at Westminster Abbey, and played for King Charles' coronation in 1661.

Couldn't he hold down a good job for more than a couple of years?

Gibbons had the misfortune to live in the middle of the English Civil War, when power changed hands at a bewildering rate. This significantly affected musicians: the King and his supporters were in favour of traditional Anglican services, with an emphasis placed on music at the heart of the liturgy; the Parliamentarians, on the other hand, favoured the simplicity of Puritan worship. So what composers were allowed to write for the church depended on which side, the King or the Parliamentarians, had most influence at the time. In 1642 the Parliamentarians smashed the organs in Winchester Cathedral, leaving Gibbons out of work. When the monarchy was restored he was again able to compose for the church.

Why hasn't his music been recorded before?

Mostly because so little of it still survives. Richard has had to research and reconstruct much of the work which we've recorded from sources in the Bodleian and Christ Church College libraries in Oxford, and the British Library in London.

And when will the CD be released?

Sometime in 2011... Watch this space!