THOMAS MORLEY

Renaissance Period
The composer, organist, and theorist Thomas
Morley (ca. 1557-ca. 1602) was the chief English
exponent of the Italian madrigal tradition.
Thomas Morley was born in Norwich,
East England, about 1557, the son of a brewer and,
sometime between 1602 and 1608, died after a
long illness. He was a singer in the local cathedral
from his boyhood, and he became, master of
choristers (a member of a choir, especially a child
or young person) there in 1583. Thomas Morley
was the most famous composer of secular music
in his time. During his early years he studied
composition with William Byrd and organ under
Sebastian Westcote, an Elizabethan composer of sacred music. In 1588 Morley received a bachelor
of music degree from Oxford and took the position of organist at St. Giles, Cripplegate.
Morley has been called the father of the English madrigal. He tried imitating Byrd in his
early works but veered towards composing madrigals that show a variety of color, form and
technique. Most of his madrigals are light and easy to sing with some aspects of Italian styles. His
Musica Transalpina, a collection of Italian madrigals fitted with English text, was published in
1588 by Nicholas Yonge. In 1591 he became organist at St. Paul's, joining the Chapel Royal the
following year. About this time Morley married; he and his wife, Susan, had three children between
1596 and 1600.
FAMOUS COMPOSITIONS
 Fire, Fire My Heart
 Sing and Chant It
 Fantasie
 April Is In My Mistress’ Face
 It Was A Lover and His Lass