Career
Little is known of the details of his life, though some of his contacts can be inferred. He worked at Rushbrooke Hall near Bury Street Edmunds, evidently as a tutor to the daughters of Sir Robert Jermyn. Kirbye"s most significant musical contributions were the psalm settings he wrote for East"s psalter in 1592, the madrigals he wrote for the Triumphs of Oriana (1601), the famous collection dedicated to Elizabeth I, and an independent set of madrigals published in 1597.
Stylistically his madrigals have more in common with the Italian models provided by Marenzio than do many of the others by his countrymen: they tend to be serious, in a minor mode, and show a careful attention to text setting.
Unlike Marenzio, however, he is restrained in his specific imagery. Kirbye avoided the light style of Morley, which was hugely popular, and brought into the madrigal serious style of pre-madrigal English music
He is not as often sung as Morley, Weelkes or Wilbye, but neither was he as prolific. Still, some of his madrigals appear in modern collections.