Wilbye, John

Wilbye, John (wĭl`bē), 1574–1638, English madrigal composer. Although only two sets of his madrigals (1598, 1609) are extant, their excellence distinguishes him as perhaps the greatest English madrigalist of the 16th cent.

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Wilbye, John

(born March 7, 1574, Diss, Norfolk, Eng.—died September 1638, Colchester, Essex) British composer. He spent his entire life in the employ of the Kytson family, as a domestic musician at Hengrave Hall, and then in Colchester (from 1628). One of the finest of the English madrigalists, he published only two collections (1598, 1609). His madrigals are less chromatic than those of his contemporary Thomas Weelkes, but he made subtle use of varying textures for expression.