Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
Ar hyn of bryd mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
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Thomas Tomkins 1572-1656
Wales's first great composer and a leading figure of late Tudor and early Stuart music
Early years
The son of the organist and vicar choral at St Davids Cathedral, Thomas Tomkins was born in St Davids, Pembrokeshire in 1572. Little is known of his early life but by 1594 the family had moved to Gloucester where his father had been appointed canon at the city’s Cathedral.
It is believed that at some point in the 1590s Tomkins was sent to study under the hugely influential composer William Byrd. It was Byrd who was later responsible for finding him a position as a chorister in the Chapel Royal.
Prior to this Tomkins was appointed organist at Worcester Cathedral in 1596 and later oversaw the building of a magnificent new organ by the foremost organ-builder of the period, Thomas Dallam.
Royal appointments
Tomkins growing reputation led to his appointment as a 'Gentleman Extraordinary of the Chapel Royal' in around 1603 and he was later promoted to 'Gentleman Ordinary' and organist under his friend, Orlando Gibbons who was the Chapel’s senior organist. The duties of the post saw him regularly commute from Worcester to London until 1639.
On the death of James I in 1625, Tomkins, alongside his fellow Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal, was required to write music for the King’s funeral and for the coronation of his successor, Charles I. Tomkins wrote the majority of the eight anthems sung at the ceremony.
In 1628 Tomkins was named 'Composer of the King's Music in Ordinary', the highest honour accorded an English musician. However, this was soon revoked when it was decided the position had been promised to the son of its previous holder.
Distracted times
This setback was one of many that Tomkins suffered during his later career and his final 14 years were particularly troubled. Tomkins’ wife Alice died in 1642, in the same year that saw the outbreak of the English Civil War. Early in the conflict Worcester Cathedral was desecrated by Parliamentary forces and its organ badly damaged. The next year, Tomkins’s house was hit by cannon fire and many of his personal possessions including several musical manuscripts were lost.
Worcester was besieged in 1646, and its Cathedral was closed. As a result, Tomkins turned his attention to instrumental music and it was during this period that he wrote some of his finest keyboard and consort works. Foremost amongst these was his Sad Pavan: for these distracted times written in 1649 to mark the execution of his beloved monarch Charles I.
Having been deprived of an income, Tomkins spent his remaining years at the house of his son Nathaniel in nearby Martin Hussingtree, dying there in 1656.
Musical legacy
Thomas Tomkins’ musical style was strongly influenced by that of his teacher William Byrd and eschewed the influences of the Baroque which had gained favour in Stuart England. As a result, his music considered to be rather conservative and as late as the 1630s Tomkins continued to write in a rich polyphonic style that harked back to the Renaissance.
Tomkins was a prolific composer of liturgical music and produced more than 100 verse anthems and services. His secular vocal music includes Songs of 3,4,5 and 6 parts of 1622 - which offers a compendium of styles including canzonets, ballets and madrigals - and Fauns and Satyrs Tripping which was included in Thomas Morley’s The Triumphs of Oriana of 1601. Tomkins’s madrigals are highly expressive and feature word painting and chromaticism that is considered the equal of Italian madrigalists such as Luca Marenzio and Luzzasco Luzzaschi.
Tomkins’s output also includes 70 keyboard works for organ, virginal and harpsichord and a large amount of consort music including fantasias and pavans.
Further reading
Stephen D. Tuttle: Thomas Tomkins: Keyboard Music (Stainer & Bell, London 1973)
Anthony Boden: Thomas Tomkins: The Last Elizabethan (Ashgate Publishing 2005)
John Irving: The Instrumental Music of Thomas Tomkins, 1572–1656 (Garland Publishing, New York 1989)
SELECTED WORKS
When David Heard – a moving setting of King David’s lament from the Bible, this is probably his best known anthem and is recognised as one the greatest examples of late Renaissance composition.
Sad Pavan: for these distracted times – ever the royalist, Tomkins wrote this keyboard piece just days after the execution of Charles I.
Third Service – also known as 'The Great Service' as it was heavily influenced by Byrd’s own work of the same name.
The Fauns and Satyrs Tripping – a 5-part madrigal which was published in The Triumphs of Oriana.
O God the Proud are Risen Against Me – an anthem which encompasses eight-part polyphony through to the most delicate word painting.
The Lady Folliot’s Galliard – this dance was one of the last pieces Tomkins composed and was dedicated to his son and daughter in law in thanks for caring for him in his old age.
Thomas Tomkins was the son of St David's Cathedral organist, Thomas Tomkins.
A MUSICAL DYNASTY
Thomas Tomkins was a member of a large and important musical family:
Thomas Tomkins (father), dates unknown – vicar choral of St David’s Cathedral.
John Tomkins (half-brother), 1586-1638 – organist at King’s College, Cambridge, Gentlemen Extraordinary of the Chapel Royal and composer.
Giles Tomkins (half-brother), after 1587- 1668 – 'Musician for the Virginals in the King’s Musick', organist of the Chapel Royal and composer.
Robert Tomkins (half-brother), dates unknown – Court musician and composer.
Nathaniel Tomkins (son),1599-1681 – canon at Worcester Cathedral. A skilled musician, he was responsible for the posthumous publication of many of Thomas Tomkins’ works.
Tomkins' final years were scarred by the horrors of the English Civil War.
TIMELINE
1572 Born in St Davids, Pembrokeshire.
1590s Studies with William Byrd. Becomes chorister at the Chapel Royal.
1596 Appointed Organist of Worcester Cathedral.
1603 Appointed a 'Gentleman Extraordinary of the Chapel Royal'.
1607 Gains a BMus from Magdalen College, Oxford.
1612 Oversees the construction of Worcester Cathedral's new organ.
1621 Becomes a 'Gentleman Ordinary of the Chapel Royal'.
1625 Composes music for the funeral of James I and writes many of the anthems performed at the coronation of Charles I.
1628 Named 'Composer of the King's Music in Ordinary'.
1642 Death of his wife Alice; Outbreak of the First English Civil War which leads to an attack on Worcester Cathedral and damage to Tomkins's house.
1646 Siege of Worcester causes the closure of its Cathedral.
1649 Writes Sad Pavan: for these distracted times in memory of the recently executed Charles I.
1656 Dies in Martin Hussingtree, near Worcester.