The Keyboard Music of Orlando Gibbons

The Keyboard Music of Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
Author(s): Gerald Hendrie

Source: Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association , 1962 - 1963, 89th Sess. (1962 -
1963), pp. 1-15
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association
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29 NOVEMBER 1962
The Keyboard Music of

Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
GERALD HENDRIE
Chairman
PROFESSOR SIR J. A. WESTRUP (PRESID
ORLANDO GIBBONS was undoubtedly one o

English composers. Indeed, his music ranks
written by any European composer of the
gifts received early recognition, and in 160
twenty-one, he was appointed an organist of th
John Bull and Edmund Hooper were among
Doubtless, much of the organ music was wri
but since it is all stylistically mature it is imp
accurately. However, some of the best keyb
included in Parthenia, and this dates from 16
that much of the dance music-both for ke
strings-was written after his appointm
musician of the Privy Chamber, for dancin
vogue at court and dance-music was enjoye
right. In I623 Gibbons was appointed organis
Abbey, and two years later he died, at Cant
Such a man deserves to have been widely
yet Gibbons' sole memorial is a broken monu
Canterbury Cathedral. Until comparatively
music scarcely served his memory better. In th
first edition of his book Orlando Gibbons and his
in I925, Edmund Fellowes lamented that
Gibbons' music was known. In 1951, howev
to write:
Times have changed. Gibbons' book of
madrigals is published complete as vol
English School of Madrigal Composers. His C
I

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2 THE KEYBOARD MUSIC OF ORLANDO GIBBONS
collected and issued as volume IV of Tudor Church Music.

Much of his instrumental music... is available in
practical editions. The madrigals and a large part of
Church music are also published in separate number
Fellowes himself had been largely responsible for this, toge
with Margaret Glyn, the editor of Gibbons' keyboard m
That we are today in a position to criticize their work
itself a tribute to their enthusiastic research.
Margaret Glyn's edition of the keyboard music is now out of
print, but even if it were available it would no longer satisfy
discerning musicians. To begin with, the edition was intended
for pianists-naturally enough in 1925-and the music was
phrased and expression marks added accordingly. All orna-
ments were omitted, for as Miss Glyn stated in her preface:
it has not seemed advisable to cumber the text of this
edition with obsolete signs of ornaments which have now
but a doubtful rendering and no authority ...
Yet some ornaments, at least, are as integral a part of virginals
music as they are of the music of later composers, and to omit
them entirely is indefensible. Furthermore, as Professor Tuttle
observed in the Editorial Method of his edition of Thomas
Tomkins' keyboard music, published as volume V of Musica
Britannica:
an important, but rarely considered, feature of the orna-
mentation is the indication which it frequently gives to the
player for the correct tempo of a piece or of a particular
passage.
Next, note-values were halved more often than was neces-
sary, for Miss Glyn adopted a standard crotchet beat through-
out the edition; certain pieces, whose original note-values
could perfectly well have been retained, assumed a most
forbidding appearance as a result--especially those having
brilliant varied repeats. Most important of all, however, the
edition was based on only twenty-two of the forty surviving
sources, and the best sources were not always used to provide
the basic texts. Furthermore, no indication is given in the
edition of the sources used as the basis for each piece, and the
collations and critical apparatus are rudimentary.
I do not wish to criticize Miss Glyn's edition further, for
although its shortcomings are many, it was a pioneer work, the
result of devoted labour to a cause now largely realized and

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THE KEYBOARD MUSIC OF ORLANDO GIBBONS 3
therefore hard to appreciate fully. Nevertheless I h

demonstrated that a new edition of Gibbons' key
conforming to present-day editorial standards a
was entirely necessary, and I am grateful to th
Committee of Musica Britannica for having entrust
this task. I am also fully aware of my debt to Miss
list of sources provided the starting-point for my
As I have mentioned in the Introduction to th
Orlando Gibbons' keyboard music was evidently
popular in its own day, for as well as the single pri
Parthenia, there are some forty surviving manus
containing keyboard music by him, half of them d
before I650. Most unfortunately, however, none
holograph (despite some past claims) and only in
there any evidence of Gibbons' authority. Very
Parthenia texts were engraved from his own autogra
are invariably the best. Of the many copyist
Cosyn and Thomas Tunstall are the most import
famous Virginal Book' contains over half Gibbon
music and furthermore it is the earliest dated
source-Cosyn dated its index 1620, and clearly th
must have taken some years to compile. Tunstall's m
dates from about I630 and contains eleven Gibbo
which two are unique and three more superior to
These three sources-Parthenia, Benjamin Cosyn
Book, and Tunstall's manuscript-provided the b
thirty-four of the fifty pieces in my edition. Havi
three principal sources of Gibbons' keyboard
before discussing some of the less reliable ones, I m
briefly on the absence of genuine autographs.
Although seven authentic signatures of Orlan
have survived," and also a note in his hand adde
(dated 1625) for repairs to the organ at Westmin
no genuine examples of his musical handwriting are
exist. Admittedly, Miss Glyn believed that the se
New York Public Library Drexel MS 5612 con
' British Museum, Royal Music Library MS 23.1.4.

2 British Museum, Add.MS 36661.
* The Cheque Book of the Chapel Royal, f. 33, f- 34, f. 3
College of Music MS 2187; British Museum Add. MS 339
Westminster Abbey bill, Muniment no. 53317.
1*

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organ arrangements of the string fantasias m

holograph,4 but I cannot agree. Miss Glyn wr
hand in this manuscript is practically identical w
autograph at Christ Church thought to be
means, presumably, Christ Church Music MS 21, which
contains a note by Benjamin Rogers, dated 1673, stating that
This Score booke was done formerly by that rare Musitian,
Mr Orlando Gibbons and this book is of great value to a
Composer.
I do not consider that it is likely to be an Orlando Gibbons
autograph however, and neither did Fellowes.5 Admittedly
there is a slight similarity between the hand of the headings and
that of Gibbons found on the Westminster Abbey bill, but that
is entirely fortuitous, for the hand of the headings in Christ
Church MS 21 is that of Rogers himself and not that of the
music text. After the last of the fantasias is written 'The end of
Mr Gibbons 3 parts for the viols', and this hand, while
undoubtedly the same as the music hand, is certainly not that
of Gibbons.
Strangely enough there is another hand in the same Drexel
manuscript which at times bears a striking resemblance to that
of Orlando Gibbons (see, for instance, the headings on pages
31 and 126, which are the same as that of the music hand);
however, having examined the matter carefully I am convinced
that this is not in fact a Gibbons autograph.
Many of the remaining copyists, whether professional or
amateur musicians, were clearly minor figures. Occasionally
they provide a unique text or a superior variant, but usually
their readings are consistently poorer than those found in the
important collections already mentioned, and their ascriptions
may be less reliable. William Ellis, copyist of Christ Church
Music MS II 13, and Thomas Heardson, copyist of Drexel
5611I, are two such men. Although the texts of the Gibbons
pieces found in their manuscripts are not particularly inferior,
their ascriptions are certainly suspect. Ellis's manuscript
contains six pieces known to be by Gibbons, of which one, the
fantasia from Parthenia, is ascribed to 'B.C.'-presumably
Benjamin Cosyn. Three further pieces are ascribed to Gibbons,
none of which seems likely to be by him. I feel even less
4M. Glyn, About Elizabethan Music and its Composers, London, 1924, p. 42.
5 E. H. Fellowes, Orlando Gibbons and his Family, 2nd ed., Oxford, 1951.

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confidence in Heardson's ascriptions. He ascr

Gibbons' pieces to John Bull, and four short corant
and in the French style, to Orlando Gibbons. W
possible that these corantos are settings by
Gibbons of French pieces, I consider it highly impr
they are by Orlando. In fact the last of the
possibly be by him for not only is the melodic
untypical of Gibbons, but the sequences in the
could hardly have been written before about I64
" I I J - I I I I ' , I I I
L. J _
dol I- _ " . ? -
The first of these corantos is ascribed elsewhere to La Barre

and Tresure, and I consider it likely that one or other of these
ascriptions is correct; other dances ascribed to these composers
are very similar in style.
I have here discussed only the more important sources,
giving examples of two manuscripts whose ascriptions I
believe should be treated with reserve. To discuss all forty
sources would be clearly impracticable, and in any case would
serve only to blur my general argument that, since certain
sources are consistently superior in essentials, these must be
used to establish many of the basic texts of the edition.
Moreover, where several sources for a single composition
exist, the discrepancies between them are often considerable,
and while some of these variants are undoubtedly due to
copyists' 'chain-reactions' of the kind so aptly described by
Thomas Morley in A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical
Music, others point clearly to revisions made by Gibbons
himself. For example, I believe that the livelier version
of bars 65-70 of the Fantasia from Parthenia represents a
revision for virginals of an earlier version for organ. This
'earlier' version is found in two sources, one of which is the
possible John Bull autograph (Paris Conservatoire Res. I 185).
In this manuscript it is the only piece known to be by

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Gibbons which is in the supposed Bull handwriting. Pro

Dart now believes that this hand is in fact John Bull's (
Glyn suggested but was unable to prove) and that th
of the manuscript in his hand dates from before his fl
Brussels in 1613. Since Parthenia appeared between N
1612 and February 1613, it is probable that the version
Gibbons fantasia in the Paris manuscript does indeed
that of Parthenia.
(Here were played the two versions of bars 65-70 of O

Gibbons' Fantasia in Tone 3, no. 12 of 'Musica Britan
XX.)
In the course of my work on Orlando Gibbons, I have (to the
best of my knowledge) examined every manuscript that might
possibly contain keyboard music by him-more than eighty in
all. All these have been studied most carefully, not merely in
the hope of finding additional sources of works already known,
but in the further hope of finding works hitherto unknown,
whether ascribed to him or not. As a result I have added
seventeen sources to the twenty-two listed by Miss Glyn. Y
only one hitherto unknown piece of reasonably certai
authenticity has come to light, and this is the fine galliard
found in Count zu Lynar's manuscript at Libbenau (MS
Ly.AI and A2). Mr. A. E. F. Dickinson's article 'A forgotten
Collection' in Music Review, 1956, pp. 97-109, first brough
this manuscript to my notice.
(Here was played the Galliard in Tone I by Orlando Gibbons,
no. 23 of 'Musica Britannica', XX.)
Of the many anonymous pieces which I examined I found only
one which I believe to be by Orlando Gibbons-a fantas
from Christ Church Music MS I 142A. This manuscript open
with a sequence of four fantasias of which this is the third
The other three are known to be by Gibbons, although two of
them are anonymous in this source.
(Here was played the Fantasia in Tone 5 by Orlando Gibbons,
On the other hand ten pieces found in one source or another
under Gibbons' name-though some of them are found also
ascribed to other composers, and one is ascribed simply t
'Orlando'-I believe to be spurious. The incipits of all but on

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of these form Appendix II of my edition. The othe

galliard (no. 50 of the edition), is given in full, for
believe it to be by Benjamin Cosyn, or just possibly by
Tomkins (my reasons for this view are given in th
Commentary to the edition), it is nevertheless asc
Gibbons in its sole source, and is not available in other
Although I had hoped to add to Gibbons' works rath
subtract from them, it is only natural that a comp
importance and evident popularity should in the c
time accumulate spurious works rather than lose genui
Once a work by a minor composer has erroneo
ascribed to a more important composer, subsequent
naturally tend to favour the latter's claim.
There are three other doubtful pieces: two as
preludes, ascribed in one source to Byrd and in an
Gibbons-they might in fact be by almost any cont
composer-and a plainsong fantasia. This fantasia (n
ascribed in three sources to Gibbons; but Thomas
gave Bull as its composer, and the music is certain
characteristic of Bull, especially at cadences. Gibbo
appear to have been a staunch Anglican all his life
well have objected to setting plainsongs-save, of c
the universally acceptable In Nomine Domini. Yet th
is restrained, its contours smooth, and it is not
untypical of Gibbons, who may possibly have writt
youthful exercise. In view of this, and of the scribal e
Gibbons' favour, and since the piece was not includ
edition of Bull's organ music published as volum
Musica Britannica, I have given it in full in my edition
(Here was played a recording of the Plainsong Fantasia

There is not time to discuss the spurious works in
have spoken already of four of them-the corantos a
Gibbons by Heardson. The remainder comprise a
related to another prelude elsewhere ascribed to B
published in Musica Britannica, XIV, with reservations
authenticity; a saraband, which must surely date fr
Gibbons' death and which is, in fact, ascribed in one
his pupil Richard Portman; an equally feeble 'Air', a
in three sources, and ascribed simply to 'Orlando' in

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again, on stylistic grounds this piece must date

Gibbons' death; and lastly, two fantasias, neither of
the least likely to be by Gibbons.
I have dealt at some length with the sources o
keyboard music, for only when their relative im
been assessed was it possible to produce a critical ed
music. The task of establishing this information wa
arduous. Every manuscript was examined in det
closely as possible and the contents noted, whilst
made of the various handwritings and gatherings
important ones. Clef-forms, final bar-line flourishe
stylistic idiosyncracies were compared, and samp
were taken from sources which appeared to have so
kinship (for example, the 'Bull' manuscript and
and analysed, in an attempt to see whether in fact
from the other. This involved the transcription of
hundred pieces, and the collation of more than a
sixty. In addition, I made a comprehensive anal
entire keyboard music of Byrd, Bull, and Tomkins
less comprehensive though equally thorough stu
complete keyboard music of Benjamin Cosyn-a
business, incidentally, for Cosyn is no great compos
was first of all to examine the general formal chara
the music and then to isolate as far as possible the c
tics peculiar to each composer. This provided an
check on my work on the manuscripts. In the
holograph there can never be a 'definitive' edition o
keyboard music; it is possible only to assess the
surviving sources, to rely on the best of these for th
of the edition and, where significant variants occ
dary sources, to give the player the chance of maki
choice of text. This has been my constant aim throu
preparation of Musica Britannica, XX. I believe, the
this edition represents a reasonable interpretat
surviving sources of his keyboard music.
I do not intend to say much about the authen
itself, for there seems little point in attempting to
words the asthetic experience of music well able
itself. Briefly, there are forty-five genuine pieces: f
ten fantasias, four pavans and seven galliards
variations, and fourteen dances, comprising alma

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and mask-tunes. The preludes are of two kin

toccata-like works-probably composed for vi
which may equally well have been played on th
short homophonic pieces, clearly intended for orga
no other keyboard music of this period as pur
inevitable as the two toccata-preludes of Gibbon
(Here was played the Prelude in Tone 8 by Orland
Gibbons' keyboard fantasias are tautly cons
contain very few of the dazzling flourishes so b
contemporaries. This may be partly because he s
songs, for a plainsong cantus firmus offers consider
this kind of writing. Nevertheless, the pavans
share the same restraint and economy, and as w
pieces, this is their strength and not their weak
music contains nothing irrelevant to the general ar
conscious 'effects' or undisciplined flourishes. T
said of Byrd, Bull or Tomkins, all of whom resor
to such artificial devices for maintaining interest.
Among the twelve pieces in pavan or gallia
Gibbons there is only one pavan-galliard pair-t
Salisbury's Pavan and Galliard. The magnific
surely unequalled by any other, with the possibl
Dowland's Lachrimae pavan. Perhaps deliberately
open with the same phrase, although Gibbons used the
sharpened form of the descending minor scale. This he seems
to have preferred, by the way, for it occurs elsewhere in his
keyboard music. No clearer proof can be found of Gibbons'
ability to write profound music with extreme economy of
material than in this pavan. In 4/2 time, it consists almost
entirely of crotchet movement; even quavers are rare, and
apart from the two written-out turns in demisemiquavers,
there is no movement whatsoever in note-values of less than a
quaver, nor are there varied repetitions to each of the three
sections as is customary in these forms.
(Here was played part of the Pavan 'Lord Salisbury', No. I8 of
'Musica Britannica', XX.)
The organ works, pavans and galliards of Orlando Gibbons
comprise the more important part of his keyboard music.
Throughout these works the writing is accomplished and the

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IO0 THE KEYBOARD MUSIC OF ORLANDO GIBBONS
level of invention high. None of this musi

inferior, but it would be unrealistic to say
variations and dance-tunes. Many of these
but some-fo rexample, the variations
mand' and 'Whoop, do me no harm, g
rather dull and uninspired. The portra
Faculty of Music at Oxford shows him a
and serious man and this impression is con
his music. It seems unlikely, therefore
variations and dance-tunes with the same enthusiasm as those
works which were able to reflect his personality more closely.
Nevertheless, two sets of variations deserve mention: 'The
Woods so Wild' and 'Peascod Time'. In his indispensable book,
The Sources of Keyboard Music in England, Professor van den
Borren compares Gibbons' variations 'The Woods so Wild'
with those of William Byrd, written about twenty years
earlier:
Gibbons' figuration has a more pronounced character of
virtuosity than that of Byrd. In places where it reaches its
highest development the piece assumes a not altogether
pleasant scholastic appearance which makes us think of
Czerny's studies...
Now, while it is perfectly true that in one or two places
Gibbons lapses into rather insipid note-spinning, the best
portions of this work more than compensate for the occasional
weaknesses. Here is the opening of Byrd's variations, followed
by that of Gibbons. Note how Gibbons' smooth-flowing
thirds, sixths and tenths create a rich, yet fluid, texture of
great charm, and how the augmented triad in the opening
statement casts a shadow over an otherwise sunny atmosphere,
portraying admirably the mood suggested by the title. Byrd's
variations cannot compete with such masterly writing.
(Here were played the openings of the variations 'The Woods so

Wild' as set by Byrd and Gibbons.)
Both composers also wrote variations on the tune 'Peascod
Time'. While Byrd's set must surely count among his dullest
works, Gibbons acquits himself remarkably well, considering
the limitations of this dreary tune and its associated bass.
The dance-tunes fall into three categories: the five almans
are almost certainly original works, and of the pieces in the

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THE KEYBOARD MUSIC OF ORLANDO GIBBONS II
French style, two are probably ori

derive from French models. It is extr
mask-tunes are but arrangements of
As my work on the edition progre
about the order in which the mu
Having decided to arrange the p
Preludes, Fantasias, Pavans, Galliards, and so on, I was
anxious to find a logical method of ordering them within each
form. Since there was far too little evidence for a chronological
ordering, there seemed no alternative to arranging the music by
keys, however inappropriate modern key-names might some-
times appear when applied to music of this period. It was at
this stage that Professor Dart showed me a facsimile of a 'Table
of Tones' which he had noticed in a Viennese manuscript
containing music by John Bull (Vienna National Library,
MS 17771). I decided to investigate the matter further, to see
whether or not instrumental music of the period was based on
some system of Tones; as a result there seems no doubt that
instrumental music of the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth
centuries was indeed based on a system of eight Tones each
having characteristics as clearly defined as those of the twenty-
four keys of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century major-
minor system.
Over the past two thousand years a great deal has been
written about the scales known as the 'Modes' or 'Tones' and
almost every writer has created further confusion in his
attempts to explain their exact nature. Even Aristoxenus wrote
in his Harmonic Elements that
no explanation has yet been offered of the manner in
which those Tones are to be found, or of the principle by
which one must be guided in enunciating their number.
The account of the Tones given by the harmonists
closely resembles the observance of the days according to
which, for example, the tenth day of the month at
Corinth is the fifth at Athens and the eighth somewhere
else.
Small wonder that while the musical humanists of the renais-
sance--Gafori, Glarean, Vincentino, Tyard, Salinas, Zarlino,
Galilei, Mei, Doni, Aron and Mersenne-were agreed upon the
6 0. Strunk, Source Readings in Music History, New York, 1950, p. 29.

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ethos of each Greek Mode discussed i

nevertheless disputed hotly the actu
itself. For example, the Mode that G
Tyard believed to be the Dorian, Z
believed to be the Phrygian. Since th
these modes had very different nat
warlike and manly and the Phrygian
this dichotomy produced a ludicrous
the 'humanist' composer who had to m
or the other.
Greek influence was strong in the early Christian Church
and it is not surprising that the Greek scales should have been
adapted for its use. By the sixth century a system of eight
Modes or scales had been devised which has remained much
the same ever since, although in 1547 Glarean in his Dodecha-
chordon defined four more. Each of the Modes had a range and
character of its own and with the advent of polyphonic music,
the tenor (frequently a plainsong) retained these characteris-
tics, the Mode of the music being determined accordingly.
Every writer who has discussed the Modes has been con-
cerned with vocal music, and little attempt has been made to
discuss the tonality of instrumental music before the advent of
the 'modern' major-minor system-that is before I650 or
thereabouts. Since the music of the virginalists falls within the
dates outlined, I decided to make a detailed tonal analysis of a
considerable amount of it. For good measure, I included some
string music and a little vocal music also. In all, my study
covered the complete keyboard and string music of William
Byrd, the organ music of John Bull, the complete keyboard
music of both Thomas Tomkins and Orlando Gibbons,
Gibbons' nine three-part string fantasias, Thomas Morley's
complete keyboard music, his nine two-part string fantasias,
his canzonets for two and three voices, Joannis Cabanilles'
organ music, the complete keyboard music of Sweelinck,
Ricercars and Intonations by Andrea Gabrieli and the whole
of Musica Britannica, IX (Jacobean Consort Music). Thus the
investigation covered music by both English, Dutch, Spanish
and Italian composers.
By using the table of the Tones mentioned earlier (which is
printed among the prefatory material to my edition, and which
I shall henceforth refer to as the 'Bull' table) it was possible to

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ascribe a large number of pieces to their respectiv

without difficulty. Pieces which appeared to be in T
Tones and others which defied immediate recognit
omitted. Thus a series of lists was compiled, one for ea
containing pieces about which there was little or n
to their correct tonal ascription, as defined by the 'Bu
It was immediately apparent that pieces in the sa
had basic similarities. This was scarcely surprising
would expect that pieces in the same 'key' would sha
characteristics. Yet the degree of similarity was re
For example, in Tone I, the accidentals Br, F#,
appeared in almost every piece (36 out of 41) but th
only two Ejs (excluding some late music by Tomkin
freer harmonically than that of any of the other co
Since there were numerous modulations to G mino
avoidance of an obvious accidental in hundreds of bars of
music was likely to be no mere chance. It was rewarding t
find that in Tone 2 ('G minor', key-signature of one flat) Ej
appeared in almost every piece, but that out of forty work
only two contained Ggs and there were scarcely any Abs. In
other words, Tone 2 is one degree 'flatter' than Tone I and
whereas the next flat accidental, Ej, appears frequently, the
last sharp to appear in Tone I (G#) is carefully avoided. Thi
in itself is not startling, but what is surely surprising is th
thoroughness with which this 'system' is observed, and th
deliberate way in which the accidentals foreign to the particu-
lar Tone are avoided.
I then compiled a further and more extensive series of tables
this time arranged by composers instead of by Tones. For each
piece the final cadence, medial cadences and accidentals
were again noted. Usually the Tone was easily determined.
When difficulties arose, the piece in question seemed almost
invariably to be in a transposed Tone, beginning and ending in
one key but nevertheless leaning towards another for much of
the time. Transpositions of this kind seemed to involve a change
of pitch but not a change of character; the transposed Tone
would retain the key-signature of the original or 'authentic'
Tone (if it had one) and also its accidentals and modulations.
A piece of music in a transposed Tone would nearly always end
with a plagal cadence, whereas the authentic form usually
has a perfect cadence. Thus as with the Church Modes, both

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authentic and plagal forms of the Instrumental Tone

apparently. Ambiguity arose on occasion, because
would not necessarily use all the accidentals that
disposal for the Tone in which he was writing; a piec
3 ('A minor') might have no Dgs and might not m
the sharp side. But on the other hand, while leaning
minor it might have no Bs and thus remain unco
Such a piece would be ascribed to Tone 3. None of
composers or copyists ascribe music to its approp
but the continentals frequently did so, and this
valuable guide in checking the English music.
The 'Bull' table is not the only one. A. C. Howell, wr
the Journal of the American Musicological Society' on
Baroque Organ Music and the Eight Church Tone
tables by Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (1632-I 714) and
both of which give organ keys that place the Church
the proper range for choirs or normal voices. Howell
that the discrepancies that occur between the ec
Tones, even between pieces purporting to be in the sa
are due to the various transpositions of the Church T
most convenient pitch for 'low', 'normal' or 'high
Nivers' second publication [Le premier] Livre d'orgue
cent pieces de tous les tons de l'eglise, published in Par
gives separate tables for bass and high voices, and the
possible tones and keys is quite complicated. But af
sing the writings of Nivers, Titelouze, Denis, and the
Lebegue, Gigoult, Raison and Boyvin, Howell gives
table 'as a synthesis' of his analysis which shows the
'occasional' and 'rare' keys for each Tone. The 'stan
as given in this table for music from I626-I665 c
exactly with those given in the 'Bull' table of abou
The important fact that has emerged from this stu
at the turn of the seventeenth century instrumen
whether for keyboard solo or for consort, was un
based on a system of Tones or Modes, loosely relat
ecclesiastical Modes which for over a thousand ye
profoundly influenced vocal music. In France the
liturgical nature of organ music created a much close
Within each instrumental Tone certain accidentals were used
SVol. XI, Summer-Fall 1958, nos. 2-3-

69.43.75.64 on Wed, 15 Mar 2023 15:31:28 UTC
freely, but those foreign to the Tone were rigorously

The final cadence was strictly determined, and th
medial cadences and modulations was limited by the a
admitted. Transpositions were used, but the trans
retained the characteristics of the original or auth
Each tone, then, had its characteristics, just as e
twenty-four keys of the major-minor system have. Bu
tonal characteristics of the two systems, though s
similar, are not the same, it is clearly misleading
one in terms of the other. Thus to say that Gibbons' f
Double Organ is 'in D minor' is as confusing as
Toccata and Fugue in D minor were described a
Tone I'. There may be tonal similarities, but the d
cannot be ignored. For example, the Gibbons fant
key-signature, there are more B naturals than B f
other ways the tonality is uncharacteristic of D m
term is understood today. Nor is it particularly
describe the piece as 'in the Dorian mode'-and eve
description were accepted, the remaining tonalit
require similar definition. On the other hand, to
Gibbons fantasia to Tone I implies that the final ca
D, that there is no key-signature, that the lesser thir
common than the greater; that the accidentals B?, F#
will probably be used (but no others, unless th
exceptional); and that all the cadences that can be
means of these accidentals may occur in the course of
All these are positive characteristics, and no furth
tion or apology is required.
Since the chronological ordering of music of this
more often than not, impossible, some alternativ
logical arrangement must be found. I hope to hav
strated that there is an overwhelming case for asc
music to its Tones, rather than to the keys of the lat
minor system, and I have therefore arranged the mu
own volume of Musica Britannica in this way. Furthe
tion of this strangely neglected subject is much to
for clearly the Eight Instrumental Tones can throw
on music's perplexing path from modality to tonal
the seventeenth century.
The author wishes to thank Professor Thurston Dart for
musical examples.
2

69.43.75.64 on Wed, 15 Mar 2023 15:31:28 UTC

The Keyboard Music of Orlando Gibbons

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The Keyboard Music of Orlando Gibbons

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The Keyboard Music of Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

Author(s): Gerald Hendrie

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