Orlando Gibbons I

The form and style of the verse anthem were anticipated in the work of a number of 16th-century composers. However, it was only in the hands of Orlando Gibbons, one of the earliest musicians to write exclusively for the English rite, that it achieved new flexibility with the use of declamatory style in the verse sections. This first volume of his music contains 16 anthems, including See, see, the Word is incarnate and This is the record of John.