Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) was an English composer and organist at Chichester Cathedral. He wrote mostly vocal music, including many madrigals. The Oxford Book of English Madrigals has more songs by Weelkes than any other composer.
For a church organist he appears to have been quite an unruly character. In spite of that, he remained in this post until his death. He was once fined for urinating on the Dean from the organ loft during Evensong. So….a sense of humour, then.
The tabor is a drum, as shown in the photo.
Don’t worry about the geography of the piece yet. We’ll work that out in one of our sessions. Just learning notes and rhythms and familiarizing yourself with the text is enough for now.
AUDIO: All 3 Parts
AUDIO: Soprano with Drum
AUDIO: Alto with Drum
AUDIO: Bass with Drum
