Dr Christopher Gibbons

Alan Bedford on 20 May 2004   Link to this

English organist and composer. Second son of Orlando Gibbons, he sang as a boy in the Chapel Royal under Giles; probably also studied with his father, after whose death in 1625 he went to live with an uncle in Exeter. Succeeded Thomas Holmes as organist at Winchester Cathedral in 1638; the Civil War, and subsequent suppression of church music, terminated this post in 1642. He lived and taught in London, 1651-60; collaborated with Locke on the masque Cupid and Death in 1653 and was heard on the organ at Oxford in 1654. He became organist at the Chapel Royal and to King Charles II upon the Restoration in 1660, later also serving at Westminster Abbey until his death. A bribery scandal involving construction of an organ did not diminish his stature with the king, who nominated him for an Oxford doctorate in 1663. Known in his time primarily as a performer. His compositions include sacred works along with consort and keyboard music. Blow was among his pupils.

Source: http://www.hoasm.org/VIIA/GibbonsC.html

Alexander More on 14 Oct 2010   Link to this

A small, rather pedantic point. The Interregnum was the period between the overthrow of James II in 1689 and the accession of William of Orange. Between the execution of Charles I and the Restoration, the country was ruled, although not by a monarch. That period was therefore not an interregnum. It is still generally known by Cromwell's term: The Commonwealth.