This Is the Record of John

"This Is the Record of John" is a verse anthem written by the English composer Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625). It is based on a text from the Gospel of John in the Geneva Bible and is a characteristic Anglican-style composition of its time. "John" (whose record is being told) refers to John the Baptist. The piece is divided into three sections, each beginning with a verse for solo contratenor (more like a modern tenor, but often now sung by a countertenor ) followed by a full section (consort of voices), echoing words of the verse. The singers are usually accompanied by organ: a viol consort is another possibility, although it is debatable how frequently viols would have been used in Jacobean services.

History
This 'verse-anthem' was written at the request of William Laud, who was president of St John's College, Oxford, from 1611 to 1621; the St John to whom college is dedicated is John the Baptist. It was written for the college chapel, and presumably received its first performance there. The text forms one of the readings for Advent.

According to Morris, the earliest known extant manuscripts of the anthem date from the 1630s, a decade after Gibbons' death. They are located at major English cathedrals and chapels, as far from Oxford as Durham, suggesting that the anthem enjoyed wide use when first written. It is included in a number of modern publications, including the Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems (OUP, 1978).

Verses
"#This is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not, and said plainly, I am not the Christ. Chorus
 * 1) And they asked him, What art thou then? Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. Chorus
 * 2) Then said they unto him, What art thou? that we may give an answer unto them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I am the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. Chorus"