Thomas Weelkes (baptised 25 October 1576 – buried 1 December 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. October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 5 - Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc dAnjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it). ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Modern style pipe organ at the concert hall of Aletheia University in Matou, Taiwan The organ is a keyboard instrument with one or more manuals, and usually a pedalboard. ... Winchester College is a well-known boys independent school, and an example of a British public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... Chichester Cathedral today Chichester Cathedral, illustrated circa 1650 A 19th century plan. ... A madrigal is a setting for 3–6 voices of a secular text, often in Italian. ... An anthem is a choral composition to an English religious text sung in church services. ... In Anglican church music, a Service is a musical setting of certain parts of the liturgy, generally for choir with or without organ accompaniment. ...

Life

Weelkes madrigal manuscript: Since Robin Hood, 1608

Thomas Weelkes was baptised in the little village church of Elsted in Sussex on 25 October 1576. It has been suggested that his father was John Weeke, rector of Elsted^[1], although 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. Early in his life he was in service at the house of the courtier Edward Darcye. At the end of 1598, at the probable age of 22, Weelkes was appointed organist at Winchester College, where he remained for two or three years, receiving the salary of 13s 4d per quarter. His remuneration included board and lodging. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Elsted and Treyford is a civil parish west of Midhurst in West Sussex. ... Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 5 - Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc dAnjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it). ... Events 17 January - A court case in Guildford recorded evidence that a certain plot of land was used for playing “kreckett” (i. ... Significant Events and Trends Transition from the Muromachi to the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan Categories: 1570s ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ...

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 the 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. Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... 1600 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... College name New College of St Mary Collegium Novum Oxoniensis/Collegium Sanctae Mariae Wintoniae Named after Mary, mother of Jesus Established 1379 Sister College Kings College Warden Prof. ... This page is about the year. ... Statistics Population: 25,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SU865045 Administration District: Chichester Shire county: West Sussex Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: Sussex Police Fire and rescue: West Sussex Ambulance: South East Coast... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Events February 8 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed February 25 - Robert Devereux beheaded Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrives in China Bad harvest in Russia due to rainy summer Dutch troops drive Portuguese from Málaga Battle of Kinsale, Ireland Births... This page is about the year. ... A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar or a song man, is a professional adult singer (or an accomplished amateur) in a cathedral or collegiate choir in the United Kingdom. ...

Weelkes' fourth and final volume of madrigals, published in 1608, carries a title page where he refers to himself as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal; however, records at the Chapel Royal itself do not mention him, so at most he could only have been a Gentleman Extraordinary - one of those who were asked to stand in until a permanent replacement was found. Events March 18 - Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia May 14 - Protestant Union founded in Auhausen. ... The Chapel Royal did not originally refer to a building but an establishment in the Royal Household. ...

Weelkes was later to find himself in trouble with the Chichester Cathedral authorities for his heavy drinking and immoderate behaviour. In 1609 he was charged with unauthorised absence, but no mention of drunken behaviour is made until 1613, and J Shepherd, a Weelkes scholar, has suggested caution in assuming that his decline began before this date. In 1616 he was reported to the Bishop for being ‘noted and famed for a comon drunckard (sic) and notorious swearer & blasphemer’. The Dean and Chapter dismissed him for being drunk at the organ and using bad language during divine service. He was however reinstated and remained in the post until his death, although his behaviour did not improve; in 1619 Weelkes was again reported to the Bishop: // Events April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia. ... Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... == {| align=right cellpadding=3 id=toc style=margin-left: 15px; |- | align=center colspan=2 | Years: 1613 1614 1615 - 1616 - 1617 1618 1619 |- | align=center colspan=2 | Decades: 1580s 1590s 1600s - 1610s - 1620s 1630s 1640s |- tall> 16th century - 17th century - 18th century |} randomised 1616 was a leap year starting on Friday... In religious terminology, a dean is a title accorded to persons holding cartain positions of authority within a religious heirarchy. ... This article incorporates text from the Catholic Encyclopedia, which is in the public domain. ...

Dyvers tymes & very often come so disguised eyther from the Taverne or Ale house into the quire as is muche to be lamented, for in these humoures he will bothe curse & sweare most dreadfully, & so profane the service of God … and though he hath bene often tymes admonished … to refrayne theis humors and reforme hym selfe, yett he daylye continuse the same, & is rather worse than better therein.

In 1622 Elizabeth Weelkes died. Thomas Weelkes was, by this time, reinstated at Chichester Cathedral, but appeared to be spending a great deal of time in London. He died in London in 1623, in the house of a friend, and was buried on 1 December, 1623 at St Bride's Fleet Street. Weelkes' will, made the day before he died at the house of his friend Henry Drinkwater of St Bride's parish, left his estate to be shared between his three children, with a large 50s legacy left to Drinkwater for his meat, drink and lodging. Events January 1 - In the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of March 25. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... Spire of St Brides Church from Fleet Street St Brides Church is a church designed by Sir Christopher Wren on Fleet Street in the City of London. ...

In Chichester Cathedral there is a memorial stone with the following inscription: Chichester Cathedral today Chichester Cathedral, illustrated circa 1650 A 19th century plan. ...

 REMEMBER IN THE LORD THOMAS WEELKES THE GREAT ELIZABETHAN COMPOSER, ORGANIST OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE 1598 AND OF THIS CATHEDRAL CHURCH FROM 1602 UNTIL HIS DEATH He died on 30 November 1623 And was buried at St. Bride's Church. Fleet Street. London 

Music

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 he was writing for at Chichester Cathedral. A madrigal is a setting for 4–6 voices of a secular text, often in Italian. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... The term evensong can refer to the following: Evening Prayer (Anglican), the Anglican liturgy of Evening Prayer, especially (but not exclusively) so called when it is sung. ... Verse Anthem The verse anthem is a species of religious choral music distinct from the motet or full anthem (i. ...

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.) His own madrigals are very chromatic and use varied organic counterpoint and unconventional rhythm in their construction. Thomas Morley (1557 or 1558 – October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. ... In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ... In music, counterpoint is a texture involving the simultaneous sounding of separate melodies or lines against each other, as in polyphony. ...

Only a small amount of instrumental music was written by Weelkes, and it is not much performed. His consort music is all sombre in tone, contrasting with the often gleeful madrigals. A consort of instruments was a phrase used in England during the 17th century to indicate an instrumental ensemble. ...

See also

• List of compositions by Thomas Weelkes
• Philip Ledger (ed) The Oxford Book of English Madrigals OUP 1978

This is a list of musical compositions by Thomas Weelkes. ... The Oxford Book of English Madrigals was edited by Philip Ledger, and published in 1978 by the Oxford University Press. ...

References

• David Brown "Weelkes, Thomas" in Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 20 Dec. 2006) www.grovemusic.com
• (1980) "Thomas Weelkes: a Biographical Caution". MQ lxvi: 505–21.
• W.K. Ford: ‘Chichester Cathedral and Thomas Weelkes’, Sussex Archaeological Collections, c (1962), 156–72

External links

• Free scores by Thomas Weelkes in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free scores by Thomas Weelkes in the Werner Icking Music Archive
• Thomas Weelkes biography on Here Of A Sunday Morning website.