Twelve Good Musicians - Thomas Weelkes

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter four of Twelve Good Musicians from John Bull to
Henry Purcell. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Twelve Good Musicians from John
Bull to Henry Purcell by Frederick Bridge. Chapter four Thomas Wilkes.

(00:27):
In the previous lecture, I have mentioned Thomas Wilkes, and
now turn for a short space to this distinguished composer.
As I have said before, I do not profess to
include all the great English musicians of the seventeenth century
in the short series of lectures, and Wilkes is selected
not only as being greatly superior to many others, but

(00:48):
because he has given us something original in the shape
of combined instrumental and vocal work. In addition to his
valuable contributions to the magical school of this I must
speak later as a magical writer. He is notable as
one of the glorious company of contributors to the triumphs
of Oriana, although little of his church music is published yet.

(01:11):
As organist of Chichester Cathedral and as a member of
the choir of the Chapel Royal. He was an experienced
church musician. He left many anthems which are preserved in
ms in various libraries, and he contributed two pieces to
Latin's Tears and Lamentations of a Sorrowful Soul. In his
fancies for strings, he displays a very fertile imagination. I

(01:35):
have had some of his fancies performed at my various lectures,
and have found them remarkable for melodic interest, and very
advanced as regards harmony. His instrumental writing is surprising, and
when one compares his fancies with those by Orlando Gibbons,
one is astonished at the novelty of his ideas. As

(01:56):
will be seen later, I shall have much to say
in connection with Gibbons, Daring and Purcell in regard to
the fancy, but I may as well at once explain
that this was the form which was supreme in the
early days of the seventeenth century as a vehicle for
instrumental writing. An enormous number of these compositions exist, and

(02:16):
it was not until Purcell's time that the fancy disappeared,
being supplanted by the snadus for three strings and a
basso continual. It was a form which helped on the
progress of writing for instruments in a wonderful way. Apt
for voices and veals was the usual title page, which
composers loved. But when the fancy developed, the writing was

(02:39):
far too elaborate to be apt for voices, and so
we get the independent instrumental fancy. It was, as a rule,
a work of some considerable length, and while full of variety,
it was lacking in any real development. The composer indulged
his fancy and wandered from point to point at his
own sweet will. It was with the fancy that Wilkes

(03:02):
made an early experiment of adding a vocal part quite
independent of the strings, and he took for his vocal
part the popular series of cries which were then common
to the streets of London. He did not, as has
so often been wrongly stated, set the cries of London
to music, but he took the words and the music

(03:22):
of these old and very interesting things, and added the
vocal part to what was a real fancy. For strings.
It is said morally did the same thing, but I
have so far failed to find any example of it.
Ravenscroft took many of these same old cries and worked
them up as rounds, and Campion introduced cherry ripe into

(03:43):
a charming song There is a Garden in Her Face
in sixteen seventeen. But the humorous fancy by Wilkes is
so far as I can see at present, the earliest
of this kind of work. Later, in connection with Gibbons endearing.
I shall have much to say on this subject, as
these composers also wrote humorous fancies, the vocal parts being

(04:05):
the same old cries of London, but treated in a
more elaborate manner. Wilkes's example is very charming, and although
his string parts are somewhat stilted, yet there is always
life in them. He makes one point which shows he
was not altogether able to forget his magicals and ballets.
Like the latter, the fancy at one point leaves its

(04:26):
regular course and for a few bars a delightful dance
tune is introduced to the words whatever they mean, twinsel
down to v It is as if the vendors of fish,
fruit and vegetables met in the street and had a
bit of a frolic together. The fancy is resumed with
the cries of the chimney sweep bellows mender et cetera,

(04:48):
and later on a beautiful song for the cellar of
broom is introduced. The words of this song date back
before Wilkes, being found with slight variation in an old
play called three Late Eighties of London fifteen eighty four.
They are sung by a character named Conscience, who enters
with brooms and sings the song. No doubt the tune

(05:10):
given by Wilkes is the original one. The conclusion of
this fancy is very charming, and rather like an anthem,
let us sing, and so we will make an end
with allelujah. There are two mss of this work in
the British Museum. I have followed the shorter version, as
the longer is not only rather dull and prolonged, but

(05:32):
includes a little deviation into vulgarity, and so is hardly
suitable for modern ears. The allelujah occurs in the longer ms,
and I have included it in my version. It is
fortunate that there are two sets of parts, as neither
of them is complete. But having been so fortunate as
to find these two sets, I have been able to

(05:53):
restore the missing part. The discovery of this fancy is
the reason why I select Wilkes instead of will By,
one of his great contemporaries. And I think all lovers
of Shakespeare will be glad to make acquaintance with the
music of Cries of London, which saluted the poet's ears.
In his daily walks, Wilkes paid a loving tribute to

(06:14):
his dearest friend Morley on the latter's death. The date
of Wilkes's death sixteen twenty three, and other particulars have
been brought to light by the investigations of Reverend Doctor Fellows,
whose devotion to the Magical school is so well known
and appreciated. His paper on Wilkes's Musical Association May nineteen

(06:35):
sixteen is an eloquent testimony to the worth of this composer,
to whose magical writing I have not space quite to
do justice. The humorous Fancy, however, shows him in a
new and interesting light. End of Chapter four, Thomas Wilkes