musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Thomas WEELKES (1576 - 1623): "Gentleman Extraordinary - Anthems, Services, and Instrumental Music"
Resurgam; The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Dir: Mark Duley
rec: Feb 28 - March 3, Minchinhampton (Stroud), Holy Trinity Church
Resonus Classics - RES10325 (© 2023) (79'21")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - no translations
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
Spotify
Alleluia, I heard a voice;
Evening Service for Trebles;
Evening Service in medio chori;
Fantasia of six parts;
Give ear, O Lord
Give the king thy judgements, O God;
Hosanna to the Son of David;
Most mighty and all-knowing Lord;
Ninth Evening Service;
O Lord, arise into thy resting place;
O Lord, grant the king a long life;
Pavan No. 1 'Mr Weelkes his Lachrymae';
Pavan No. 5 a 5;
Pavan No. 6 a 5;
Voluntary [I]a;
Voluntary [II]a
[Resurgam]
decani Aisling Kenny, triplex;
Eilís Dexter, medius;
Christopher Bowen, contratenor 1;
Rory Lynch, contratenor 2;
Jonathan Hanley, tenor;
Eoghan Desmond, bassus
cantoris Charlotte O'Hare, triplex;
Rosemary Clifford, medius;
Stuart Kinsella, contratenor 1;
Graham Cooper, contratenor 2;
Ciarán Kelly, tenor;
Tom Herring, bassus
[ECSE] Conor Hastings, Helen Roberts, Nicholas Perry, cornett;
Emily White, Tom Lees, Cameron Drayton, Adrian France, sackbut;
Silas Wollston, organ (soloa)
Thomas Weelkes died in 1623, and one would expect that fact to be given some attention through recordings and concerts last year. However, as far as I know only a few recordings have been released. One of them is the subject of this review. It offers a survey of his sacred oeuvre, to which some instrumental pieces are added. However, he was especially famous for his madrigals: between 1597 and 1608 four books were printed. This part of his oeuvre has not received the attention it deserves, and the commemoration of his death has not changed that.
The recordings that have been released in recent years all focus on his sacred output. Some of his sacred works are pretty well-known, and regularly performed by choirs and vocal ensembles, also outside the United Kingdom. One of these is also included on the present disc, the anthem Hosanna to the Son of David. It seems that his sacred works have not reached the same status as those of his contemporaries, and that may have to do something with his biography, and especially his dubious reputation in his own time.
Little is known about his formative years. In 1598 he was appointed organist of Winchester College; here he stayed for about four years, and in this time he composed most of his madrigals. One of his compositions was included in the collection The Triumphes of Oriana (1601), which was put together by Thomas Morley in honour of Queen Elizabeth. At some time between October 1601 and October 1602 he moved to Chichester where he became organist and informator choristarum. There he remained until 1617 when he was dismissed from his posts because of frequent unauthorised absence and public drunkenness. The year before he had been reported to the bishop as being "noted and famed for a comon drunckard and notorious swearer & blasphemer". He continued to play the organ in the cathedral on an irregular basis. After the death of his wife in 1622 he seems to have spent much time at the house of a friend in London where he died the following year.
In the liner-notes to the present disc Andrew Johnstone discusses several aspects of his biography and personality, and puts some stories into a different perspective. It seems that Weelkes attempted to increase his reputation by stating that he was a 'Gentleman of his Maiesties Chappell', meaning that he was a member of the Chapel Royal. "[However], there exists not a shred of corroborative evidence, and the likeliest explanation is that Weelkes was a Gentleman Extraordinary, i.e. a supernumerary or probationary member." The fact that Weelkes composed quite a number of anthems which are connected to the monarchy in their subject matter seems to point in the same direction: he looked for an improvement of his status. In reality, he may have been on not very good terms with the royal household, as in the anthem word-book copied for the Chapel around 1630, only two of his about forty anthems are included. It is probably also telling that an anthology of church music which appeared in 1641, includes only one of his anthems.
Johnstone also discusses the issue of his alcoholism. The reports about his drunkenness have one and the same source: the Chichester lay succentor William Lawes (not the composer), and although Johnstone acknowledges that "there may be more than a grain of truth in these allegations", the background may be a personal friction between the two men. "If this developed into a personal and puritanical vendetta on Lawes's part, then its effects on Weelkes's reputation have been lasting." The fact that after his dismissal he continued to play the organ at Chichester Cathedral may well support the assumption of a personal vendetta.
The main works on this disc are the three services, neither of which has been preserved complete. 'Service' is a term used in the Anglican liturgy to refer to musical settings of the canticles for Matins and Evensong, and to settings of certain parts of the Ordinary of Holy Communion. The services in the oeuvre of English composers can include various chants. For instance, Weelkes' The First Service to the Organs in Gamut comprises Te Deum, Jubilate, Offertories, Kyrie, Credo, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. The Evening Service for Trebles, which is part of the present disc, includes three of them: Te Deum, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis; only the latter two are performed here. The title refers to an extra line for boys' voices (here sung by female sopranos). In this work solo voices play an important role. That is different in the Ninth Service; the liner-notes don't mention what it includes, and the work in not listed in New Grove; here we get again Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. Johnstone believes that it was intended for the Chapel Royal, especially because of its large proportions and its scoring for ten voices. It is notable that the Magnificat opens with the same chords as the anthem O Lord, grant the king a long life, and that the two works also have the same 'Amen'. In this service and in the Evening Service in medio chori the choir is divided into two groups (decani and cantoris), as was common at the time (unlike in the Evening Service for Trebles). However, in this service "it is unclear whether the passages for three high voices are designated 'medio' because they were intended for an antiphonal group 'in the middle of the choir [stalls]' or because they were assigned to the upper half of the full chorus."
The anthems are divided into two groups: full anthems - scored for the tutti - and verse anthems, which include episodes for solo voices. In the latter case these episodes are often completely or partly repeated by the full choir. Some of the anthems are scored for seven voices, such as O Lord, arise into thy resting place and O Lord, grant the king a long life. Most mighty and all-knowing Lord is in fact a consort song for four voices, and may originally not have been intended for liturgical use but rather for performance in a domestic environment.
The programme is extended with instrumental pieces. Although Weelkes worked for most of his life as an organist, his oeuvre includes only two organ pieces, the two Voluntaries performed here. This is not surprising, as organists used to improvise and there was little reason to write anything down (except for pupils or, generally, as teaching material). The pieces for instrumental music are usually performed by a consort of viols. Here we get performances by an ensemble of cornetts and sackbuts. They also accompany the singers in some of the vocal items. Unfortunately this aspect of performance practice is not discussed in the booklet. On the site of the ensemble Resurgam one can find a pdf-booklet with more information about the use of instruments, including the organ, and the reconstructions of the missing parts (*). In short, it was known for long that cornetts and sackbuts were used in churches (although it sometimes met with resistance), but they have seldom been included in modern performances and recordings of this repertoire. Also notable is the high pitch of a=470 Hz.
These features contribute to the importance of this disc. It is to be hoped that it will contribute to a revaluation of Weelkes as a composer and of his oeuvre. The performance do him ample justice. I had never heard of this Irish ensemble. It is a fine group of singers, which I hope to hear again. It is regrettable that some of the singers are not free of vibrato, which is not required here. However, overall it is hardly disturbing. I was especially impressed by the Ninth Evening Service, which is certainly one of Weelkes's finest achievements. Here the ensemble is also at its most impressive. It will be interesting to see whether the performance practice here, especially the participation of winds, will be copied.
(*) The booklet refers to www.resurgam.ie/resources, but it should rather be www.resurgam.ie/events.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Resurgam
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble