
What is Thomas Morley famous for?
Thomas Morley. Thomas Morley, (born 1557/58, Norwich, England—died October 1602, London), composer, organist, and theorist, and the first of the great English madrigalists. Morley held a number of church musical appointments, first as master of the children at Norwich Cathedral (1583–87), then by 1589 as organist at St.
Did Sir Thomas Morley convert to the Catholic Church?
It is highly probable that Morley converted to Roman Catholicism early in life, perhaps under the influence of his master, William Byrd. By 1591, however, Morley had defected from the church, for in that year he engaged in espionage work among the English Roman Catholics in the Netherlands.
What was John Morley's last work?
His last publication was the Triumphs of Orianna in 1602 is a collection of his own works and about the Triumph of the Queen. In these works, Morley has concentrated on lighter works, avoid the serious elements of word styles and chromaticism.
When did John Morley become an organist?
In 1588 Morley received a bachelor of music degree from Oxford and took the position of organist at St. Giles, Cripplegate. In 1591 he became organist at St. Paul 's, joining the Chapel Royal the following year.

When was Thomas Morley born?
1557Thomas Morley / Date of birthThomas Morley, (born 1557/58, Norwich, England—died October 1602, London), composer, organist, and theorist, and the first of the great English madrigalists.
Which Madrigal is Thomas Morley?
Thomas Morley (1557 – early October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, singer and organist of the Renaissance. He was one of the foremost members of the English Madrigal School....Thomas MorleyTitle page of Morley's Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (1597)Bornc. 1557 Norwich, England2 more rows
Who is the father of English madrigal?
Morley has been called the father of the English madrigal. He was the earliest and the chief figure in the wholesale transplantation of the Italian madrigal tradition to England, and the quick assimilation of Italian styles and forms into a burgeoning English tradition was largely of his doing.
Who influenced Thomas Morley?
William ByrdMorley's Music Morley was influenced in his early years by his teacher, William Byrd. Byrd was a master of sacred polyphonic choral music. Polyphonic music has more than one melody sounding simultaneously.
What era is the Fire Fire My Heart?
/ composed by Thomas Morley. Morley, Thomas, 1557-1603? 1 score (6 pages) ; 25 cm.
What is the style of Fire Fire My Heart?
This superb setting of the classic Morley madrigal features an extremely well-crafted optional piano accompaniment and additional pitch options which allow expansion to a fuller SATB voicing. A marvelous teaching piece to experience the madrigal genre, it is also great fun! Highly recommended!
What is madrigal short?
Definition of madrigal 1 : a medieval short lyrical poem in a strict poetic form. 2a : a complex polyphonic unaccompanied vocal piece on a secular text developed especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. b : part-song especially : glee.
What is Italian madrigal?
madrigal, form of vocal chamber music that originated in northern Italy during the 14th century, declined and all but disappeared in the 15th, flourished anew in the 16th, and ultimately achieved international status in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
What is the difference between Italian and English madrigals?
The English madrigals were more humorous and lighter, with simpler harmony and melody than the Italian madrigals. Italian also madrigals often had way more word painting to convey the deep emotion that it had.
Who was the prince of music?
Giovanni Pierluigi da PalestrinaPalestrina - Prince of Music is an Italian/German 2009 music film directed by Georg Brintrup. The subject is the life and music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca. 1525-1594), a famous Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music. He is the best-known 16th-century composer of the Roman School.
Which composer is remembered for his English madrigals?
The most influential composers of madrigals in England, and the ones whose works have survived best to the present day, were Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes and John Wilbye. Morley is the only composer of the time who set verse by Shakespeare for which the music has survived.
What is a madrigal in Renaissance music?
Introduction. Madrigal is the name of a musical genre for voices that set mostly secular poetry in two epochs: the first occurred during the 14th century; the second in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
What era is Johann Sebastian Bach?
the Baroque eraJohann Sebastian Bach, (born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany]—died July 28, 1750, Leipzig), composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians.
What instruments did Morley play?
In addition to his madrigals, Morley wrote instrumental music, including keyboard music (some of which has been preserved in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ), and music for the broken consort, a uniquely English ensemble of two viols, flu te, lute, cittern and bandora, notably as published by William Barley in 1599 in The First Booke of Consort Lessons, made by diuers exquisite Authors, for six Instruments to play together, the Treble Lute, the Bandora, the Cittern, the Base-Violl, the Flute & Treble-Violl .
When was Plaine and Easie published?
Morley's Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (published 1597) remained popular for almost two hundred years after its author's death, and is still an important reference for information about sixteenth century composition and performance.
When was the Madrigal song published?
However, given that the song was published in 1600, there is evidently a possibility that it was used in stage performances. While Morley attempted to imitate the spirit of Byrd in some of his early sacred works, it was in the form of the madrigal that he made his principal contribution to music history.
Where is Thomas Morley buried?
Thomas Morley was buried in the graveyard of the church of St Botolph Billingsgate, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, and not rebuilt. Thus his grave is lost. Recorded performance of "It was a lover and his lass".
Where was Morley born?
Morley was born in Norwich, the son of a brewer. Most likely he was a singer in the local cathedral from his boyhood, and he became master of choristers there in 1583. However, it is assumed that Morley moved from Norwich Cathed ral sometime before 1574 to be a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral.
Who was Morley's mentor?
In his 1597 publication A Plain and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke, Morley mentions Byrd as his mentor. In 1588 he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Oxford, and shortly thereafter was employed as organist at St. Paul's in London. His young son died the following year in 1589.
Who published the collection of Italian madrigals?
In 1588 Nicholas Yonge published his Musica transalpina, the collection of Italian madrigals fitted with English texts, which touched off the explosive and colourful vogue for madrigal composition in England. Morley found his compositional direction at this time, and shortly afterwards began publishing his own collections of madrigals (11 in all).
When did Morley publish his canzonets?
In 1598 Morley applied successfully for the license to print music. But by then his health had begun to fail, and the new outlet proved more burdensome than productive. He had already published his Canzonets to Three Voices (1593), Madrigals to Four Voices (1594), Ballets to Five Voices, and Canzonets to Two Voices (both 1595), and his Canzonets … Selected out of … Italian Authors, Canzonets to Five and Six Voices, and his treatise A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music (all 1597). Between 1598 and 1601 he produced and published a new collection each year and also reedited a great many of his earlier publications. He also left a great quantity of unpublished music, including ten motets, four services, five anthems, keyboard music, and viol consorts.
Who is the father of madrigals?
Morley has been called the father of the English madrigal. He was the earliest and the chief figure in the wholesale transplantation of the Italian madrigal tradition to England, and the quick assimilation of Italian styles and forms into a burgeoning English tradition was largely of his doing. Single-handedly he translated the Italian canzonet into a native form, the English short ayre, in his Canzonets of 1593 and 1595. In the latter collection he also included nine two-part instrumental fantasias, which, though bearing fanciful Italian titles, are marvelous examples of a new and sprightly English counterpoint. In these canzonets, as in the Madrigals to Four Voices and Ballets to Five Voices, Morley obviously patterned his works after Italian models, even paraphrasing a few, but he surpassed these models in harmonic variety and tonal sophistication.
Was Morley a Catholic?
During this period Morley, like Byrd a Roman Catholic, encountered trouble as a recusant. Charles Paget, an agent, had intercepted letters which held enough incriminating evidence for him to have had Morley hanged. He repented so abjectly, however, that Paget let him off.
Does Encyclopedia have page numbers?
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Who edited Morley's A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music?
Morley's A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music was edited by R. Alec Harman and contains a brilliant foreword by Thurston Dart (1952). In the absence of a monograph on Morley, the following readings are suggested: Peter Warlock, The English Ayre (1926); Edmund Horace Fellowes, English Cathedral Music (1941; rev. ed. 1970), and The English Madrigal Composers (1948); and Joseph Kerman, The Elizabethan Madrigal: A Comparative Study (1962). □
What Instrument did Thomas Morley Play?
Morley was best known for his madrigals. Apart from them, he also played the viol, flute and lute. Morley composed music sheets for the keyboard, cittern, bandora etc. His music of the broken consort was a unique composition for an ensemble of two viols, lute, flute, bandora and a cittern.
What was the significance of Byrd's book?
Because of his mastery of Musical compositions, he published a practical treatise on the notation and about music. This was very readable, light and a work of great information and learning. This also brought to light the author’s deep researches about the development of music.
What style of writing did Morley use?
Morley’s compositions are written in two different and variant styles. As Byrd’s student, he was influenced by The Premadrigalian English Style and His Mastery of Italian Madrigan Style ( which is evident in many of his works in the 1590s.
How many children did Morley have?
Morley got married after joining the Chapel Royal. His wife’s name was Susan. He and Susan had three children between 1596 and 1600. In 1598, Morley applied for a license to print music. He got the license the same year. By now, Morley was facing issues on the health front. His endeavour with the license proved more problematic than being fruitful.
What was Morley's first book?
Morley had published Canzonets to Three Voices (1593), Madrigals to Four Voices (1594), Ballets to Five Voices, and his treatise A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music all in 1597. Between the year 1598 and 1601, he produced and published a new collection each year and during this time, he also re-edited many of his works. Morley left many compositions midway before his death.
Who was the most famous composer of secular music during the Elizabethan era?
Morley was the most famous composer of secular music during the Elizabethan era. He lived during the time of Shakespeare and composed the song It Was a Lover and His Lass for his play As You Like It along with its setting. However, there is no evidence as to whether Morley’s setting and composition were used in the performance of the play or not.
What is a madrigal song?
Madrigals were polyphonic secular songs usually composed for four or five voices. The Italian madrigals were often light-hearted, fun, and about love. They were tremendously popular in Italy. It wasn't long before the madrigal rage spread throughout Europe. Morley published 25 canzonets, Italian 'little songs', in 1593, his first collection of songs in the Italian madrigal style. This was his true gift. Composing madrigals with English texts become his artistic focus for the rest of his life.
What was Thomas Morley's last collection of music?
Morley's last collection of original music was ' The First Booke of Ayres ,' published in 1600. He also edited a volume of madrigals by many different composers written in praise of Queen Elizabeth. This volume, 'The Triumphes of Oriana,' was published posthumously in 1603. Thomas Morley died in London, England, in October 1602. He was in the prime of life. He left us hundreds of songs, music for the Anglican worship service, and various instrumental pieces. Yet he will always be honored as the man who brought the joy of the Italian madrigal to England.
What was the name of the book that Morley wrote in 1597?
In 1597, Morley published a comprehensive treatise on the art and theory of composition titled, A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music. This book would be influential for many generations of composers. It is consulted today as an important reference on the state of music in the 16th century.
What is Morley's style of music?
Morley published several more sets of secular vocal music, including canzonets, ballets, and madrigals. Several of his songs are still performed widely today and are considered masterpieces of the genre. High school choirs around the world sing, 'Now is the month of Maying' and 'My bonny lass, she smileth.' These songs are an excellent example of the Morley style. They use rapid polyphonic passages, imitation between the voices, and sections of homophony, a single melody accompanied by the other voices, to balance the polyphony.
What does it mean to enroll in a course?
Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.
What degree does Charis have?
Charis has taught college music and has a master's degree in music composition.
Who was William Byrd's teacher?
Morley was influenced in his early years by his teacher, William Byrd. Byrd was a master of sacred polyphonic choral music. Polyphonic music has more than one melody sounding simultaneously. The polyphony employed by Byrd was broad and slow, ponderous and serene in its attempts to set the proper tone for worship services. Morley composed a handful of pieces in a similar style, but he soon found his own voice with the Italian madrigal.