Morley, Thomas
Period: Renaissance
Born: c. 1557 in Norwich, England
Died: 1602 in London, England
Nation of Origin: United Kingdom
Major Works:
Church Music
Madrigals
Lute Music
Balletts
Canzonets
It was a Lover and his Lass - song composed for Shakespeare's play As You Like It (1599)
1st Book of Consort Lessons - for six instruments (1599)
1st Book of Ayres - for lute and bass viol (1600)
The Triumphs of Oriana (a collection of madrigals by 24 composers created in 1601 in honor of Elizabeth I) - Morley contributed Arise, Awake and Hard by a Crystal Fountain
Other Information:
Quick Facts
- Student of William Byrd
- Obtained a Mus.B. degree in music from Oxford University (July, 1588)
- Probably was organist at St. Giles, Cripplegate in London where his son was buried
- Organist for St. Paul's Cathedral (1589 to 1592)
- A 1591 letter from the Netherlander, Paget, implicates Morley in political/religious espionage. The details of his spying activities are unclear.
- Gentleman of Chapel Royal (1592)
- He may have been a friend of Shakespeare and composed songs for his plays.
- Author of the theoretical treatise A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musick (1597) - a text which should be studied by anyone seeking to understand English modal music of the Elizabethan era.
- Elizabeth I gave him a 21-year monopoly on the music printing business (1598)
- Published his own music and that of other composers of the time like Dowland.
- Close friend of the composer Thomas Weelkes.
- Some of his keyboard music appears in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
General Bibliography:
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Renaissance, W.W. Norton & Company; November 1959, ISBN: 0393095304
Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World , W. W. Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN: 0393097188
Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group, December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257
Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc., January 2004, ISBN: 0195170679
Rutherford-Johnson, Tim, Kennedy, Michael, and Kennedy, Joyce The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 6th Edition, 2012, ISBN: 0199578109
Links to essays at other sites:
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Biographical essay from Wikipedia
