Thomas Weelkes (1576 – 1623) was an English composer
and organist. He became organist of Winchester College
in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are
chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and
services. He was baptised in the little village church
of Elsted near Chichester in West Sussex on 25 October
1576. It has been suggested that his father was John
Weeke, rector of Elsted, lthough there is no
documentary evidence of the relationship. In 1597 his
first volume of madriga...(+)
Thomas Weelkes (1576 – 1623) was an English composer
and organist. He became organist of Winchester College
in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are
chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and
services. He was baptised in the little village church
of Elsted near Chichester in West Sussex on 25 October
1576. It has been suggested that his father was John
Weeke, rector of Elsted, lthough there is no
documentary evidence of the relationship. In 1597 his
first volume of madrigals was published, the preface
noting that he was a very young man when they were
written; this helps to fix the date of his birth to
somewhere in the middle of the 1570s. He dedicated the
volume to George Philpot. Early in his life he was in
service at the house of the courtier Edward Darcy. At
the end of 1598, probably aged 22, Weelkes was
appointed organist at Winchester College, where he
remained for two or three years, receiving the
quarterly salary of 13s 4d (£2 for three-quarters).
His remuneration included board and lodging.
During his Winchester period, Weelkes composed a
further two volumes of madrigals (1598, 1600). He
obtained his B. Mus. Degree from New College, Oxford in
1602, and moved to Chichester to take up the position
of organist and informator choristarum (instructor of
the choristers) at Chichester Cathedral at some time
between October 1601 and October 1602. He was also
given a lay clerkship at the Cathedral, being paid £15
2s 4d annually alongside his board, lodging and other
amenities. The following year he married Elizabeth
Sandham, from a wealthy local family. They had three
children and it was rumoured that Elizabeth was already
pregnant at the time of the marriage.
Thomas Weelkes is best known for his vocal music,
especially his madrigals and church music. Weelkes
wrote more Anglican services than any other major
composer of the time, mostly for evensong. Many of his
anthems are verse anthems, which would have suited the
small forces available at Chichester Cathedral. It has
been suggested that larger-scale pieces were intended
for the Chapel Royal. A number of Weelkes's church
anthems were included in The Oxford Book of Tudor
Anthems in 1978.
Only a small amount of instrumental music was written
by Weelkes, and it is rarely performed. His consort
music is sombre in tone, contrasting with the often
gleeful madrigals. Weelkes's madrigals are often
compared to those of John Wilbye (who the Dictionary of
National Biography described as the most famous of the
English madrigalists): it has been suggested that the
personalities of the two men - Wilbye appears to have
been a more sober character than Weelkes - are
reflected in the music. Both men were interested in
word painting. Weelkes' madrigals are very chromatic
and use varied organic counterpoint and unconventional
rhythm in their construction.
Weelkes was friends with the madrigalist Thomas Morley
who died in 1602, when Weelkes was in his mid-twenties
(Weelkes commemorated his death in a madrigal-form
anthem titled A Remembrance of my Friend Thomas Morley,
also known as "Death hath Deprived Me"). Some of
Weelkes's madrigals were reprinted in popular
collections during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Weelkes).
Although originally written for Mixed Chorus (SATTB), I
created this Interpretation of the "Gloria in excelsis
Deo" for Wind Sextet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English
Horn, French Horn & Bassoon).
