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:
Kennedy, Michael, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 1997, ISBN: 0198691629

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

Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc., January 2001, ISBN: 1561592390

Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group, December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257

Links to essays at other sites:

Music in the Renaissance by Gustave Reese

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Biographical essay at the Naxos site
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