Thule, the Period of Cosmography

Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) was one of those composers who blossomed early, before “drunkenness and outrageous blaspheming” led to his dismissal as organist of Chichester Cathedral. In 1600, while organist of Winchester College, he published one of the finest collections of English madrigals—partsongs for unaccompanied voices. “Thule” is a metaphor for a distant place far beyond the known world of the poet of Thule, the period of cosmography, and its second part, The Andalusian Merchant, explores the wonders of the age of discovery in a text rich in imagery. In his lengthy six-voice madrigal, Weelkes responds to this colourful language with erupting scales depicting the “sulphureous fire” of Iceland’s volcano Hekla, shifty chromaticism (micro melodic changes) illustrating “how strangely Fogo burns”, and balletic motifs conjuring up “an ocean full of flying fishes”. But at the end of each part the poet concludes that compared with any traveller’s tale, the feelings of his own heart are “yet more wondrous”.