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Orlando Gibbons started his musical life as a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, where his brother was the choir master. He then entered the university as a student and earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Cambridge, followed by a Doctorate from Oxford. He was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal most of his life, one of the two chapel organists of the Chapel Royal from 1603 to his death, and , from 1623 to his death, was also organist of Westminster Abbey.

Even though Gibbons was a keyboard player by profession, his outstanding achievement as a composer lies in vocal music, and particularly in Anglican service music. He composed many anthems with texts he chose because they offered great scope for expressive musical treatment. His compositions are at once dramatic, and yet—as the composer Morley put it—"carrying a majesty."