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• Weelkes, Thomas: 7 Airs or Fantastic Spirits

Weelkes, Thomas: 7 Airs or Fantastic Spirits

(1608) for 3 voices or instruments.

Thomas Weelkes´ Airs or Fantastic Spirits, published in London by William Barley in 1608, contains 25 light-hearted three-part pieces, together with a six-part madrigal in memory of Thomas Morley. Two of the pieces have Italian texts; these and some of the other pieces are quite close in style to the 3-part villanelle of Luca Marenzio (selection published in LPM TM20).
While the starting-point of these pieces may have been the Italian villanella and canzonetta, both the subject-matter and style of Weelkes´ music is rather more varied, with some references to popular dance music. But the typical scoring of the three-part Italian music, with two equal high parts accompanied by a third part about an octave lower, is preserved.
In this edition the original note values have been preserved in all the duple-time sections; in the triple sections, which are all written in black notes with a 3 time-signature, the note values have been halved. There is some dispute as to the relationship between duple- and triple-time sections; on analogy with contemporary Italian dance music, I have assumed that the duple-time semibreve should equal the dotted minim in the triple.
I have resisted the temptation to transpose some of these pieces in the edition, but performers should certainly not feel any inhibitions about finding a comfortable pitch for their own forces, if the written pitch does not work.