Thule, the period of cosmography and The Andalusian merchant - Weelkes - dwsChorale

Thule, the period of Cosmography (and The Andalusian merchant) -
a madrigal for 6 voices by Thomas Weelkes
performed today (4 October 2009) by the dwsChorale (one-man multitrack choir)



Thule, the period of cosmography, Doth vaunt of Hecla, whose sulphureous fire

Doth melt the frozen clime and thaw the sky; Trinacrian Etna's flames ascend not higher.

These things seem wondrous, yet more wondrous I, Whose heart with fear doth freeze, with love doth fry.




The Andalusian merchant, that returns Laden with cochineal and China dishes,

Reports in Spain how strangely Fogo burns Amidst an ocean full of flying fishes.

These things seem wondrous, yet more wondrous I, Whose heart with fear doth freeze, with love doth fry.


Interpretation:
Iceland (it means Iceland here, since Hecla (Hekla) is mentioned, although Thule does now refer to other distant places),
the period (ie full stop) of mapmaking (ie the end of the known world)
boasts of its volcano Hecla, whose sulphurous fire melts the ice and thaws the sky
Etna's flames on Sicily are no higher than this (this is poetic licence, Etna is actually higher than Hecla!)
These things are amazing but not as amazing as me
because I can be both cold and hot, with fear and with love

The second verse is fairly self explanatory, although there is debate as to whether Fogo (= "fire" in Portuguese)
refers to the volcano in Cape Verde (off Senegal) or to Tierra del Fuego. I would vote for Cape Verde since the harmony,
when referring to Fogo, is probably one of the most chromatic pieces of writing in the madrigal repertoire
and is a marvellous depiction of the lava flowing down a volcano.

Images
All images are in the public domain and illustrate the words very specifically.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• weelkes
• thule
• cosmography
• andalusian
• merchant
• cochineal
• fogo
• etna
• madrigal
• dwschorale
• david w solomons
• choir
• choral
• multitrack
• hekla
• a cappella

[phlarrdboi]

god help us all. one man fourtrack.

[dwsolo]

@phlarrdboi there are lots of us one-man-choirs on youtube in fact :-)

[Tippertywitchit]

Amazing! I'm speechless with admiration and jealousy!

[omfadv]

Ha! Doing this as a one-man multitrack (respect!) means that, unlike in my numerous and often less-than-perfect wrestlings with this piece, you can't blame anyone else for going wrong!

A fiendishly difficult and immensely rewarding madrigal, and one of my favourites. Thank you for posting.

[apollonmusagete]

This piece--from the "Age of Exploration"--was new to me and quite fascinating musically and textually. Very nicely performed with highly appropriate and colorful visuals! Thanks for making such excedllent and relatively rare music available to us!