Thomas Weelkes was an English composer active in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. He was born in 1576 in Sussex, England and held positions as an organist at Winchester College and Chichester Cathedral. Weelkes published several volumes of madrigals and wrote many Anglican church services and anthems. However, he struggled with alcoholism and unruly behavior, which led to his dismissal from Chichester Cathedral at one point. Weelkes is best known for his innovative vocal music, especially his chromatic madrigals, and he made contributions to English church music through his anthems and services.

1. Music in History:
Medieval/Renaissance Composers
Thomas Weelkes
1576 – 1623

2. Thomas Weelkes
• Weelkes was baptised in the little village church of Elsted in Sussex,
England.
• It has been suggested that his father was John Weeke, rector of
Elsted, 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.

3. Thomas Weelkes
• During his Winchester period, Weelkes composed
a further two volumes of madrigals (1598, 1600).
• He obtained his Bachelor Music Degree from New
College, Oxford in 1602, and moved to Chichester
to take up the position of organist and informator
choristarum (instructor of the Choirs) 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 annually alongside his board,
lodging and other amenities.

4. Thomas Weelkes
• The following year he married Elizabeth Sandham, from a wealthy
local family.
• 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.
• Weelkes was later to find himself in trouble with the Chichester
Cathedral authorities for his heavy drinking and immoderate
behavior.
• In 1616 he was reported to the Bishop for being ‘noted and famed
for a common drunkard and notorious swearer.’
• The Dean and Chapter dismissed him for being drunk at the organ
and using bad language during divine service.

5. Thomas Weelkes
• He was however reinstated and remained in the post
until his death, although his behavior did not improve;
in 1619 Weelkes was again reported to the Bishop.
• In 1622 Elizabeth Weelkes died.
• He died in London in 1623, in the house of a friend,
and was buried on December 1, 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.
• Weelkes has a memorial stone in Chichester Cathedral.

6. Music of Weelkes
• 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.

7. Music of Weelkes
• 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").
• His own madrigals are very chromatic and use varied
organic counterpoint and unconventional rhythm in
their construction.
• Only a small amount of instrumental music was written
by Weelkes, and it is not much performed.