1557--1603
The next of our twelve musicians in chronological order of birth is
Thomas Morley, born in 1557, when Byrd was a young man, though his
course was run long before that veteran had finished with the affairs
of this world. He was a pupil of Byrd, and was probably a chorister of
St Paul's Cathedral. In 1588 he graduated B.Mus. at Oxford, and some
three years later was appointed Organist of St Paul's. This position
he did, however, not hold long, as in 1592, he was appointed a
Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. In 1598 he was granted the licence,
which had previously been held by Tallis and Byrd, for the exclusive
right of printing and selling Books of Music and Ruled Paper, and many
of the musical works which were published at that time were issued by
Este, Peter Short, William Barley, and others, as the assigns of Thomas
Morley. In 1602 he resigned his positions at the Chapel Royal,
probably from ill-health, as one gathers {22} from the Introduction to
his _Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practical Music_ that he was
rather a confirmed invalid. Some have taken the year of his
resignation as that of his death, but there is nothing to support this,
and though Hawkins and Burney are at one in placing his death in 1604,
the correct date is 1603.
Details of Morley's life are scanty, by his works we must know him.
His compositions are both vocal and instrumental, sacred and secular;
and, in addition to his work in the various branches of composition,
much of his fame rests upon his authorship of the first really
satisfactory treatise on music, _The Plaine and Easie Introduction_
already referred to.
This work is full of interest, and has been a book of reference and of
valuable information to musicians for the past three centuries.
Written in the form of a dialogue between Master and Pupil, it contains
many quaint discourses, and it is in the early chapters of this work
that the story is told of the unfortunate gentleman who could not read
music at sight when asked to do so by his hostess, with the humiliating
result that the company wondered "where he had been brought up."
Morley's book was translated into German by I. C. Frost, Organist of St
Martin's, Halberstadt. {23} It is interesting to observe that more
than one of his works was translated into German (e.g., the _Canzonets
or Little Short Songs to Three Voyces_, published here first in 1593,
was translated into German and issued at Cassel in 1612 and at Rostock
in 1624; and the _Ballets for Five Voyces_ of 1595 was issued at
Nuremberg in 1609).
This is a striking testimony to his merits, but the most celebrated of
his publications was the great edition of Madrigals called _The
Triumphs of Oriana_. This is said to have been compiled as a tribute
to Queen Elizabeth, whose title of "Gloriana" is well known. In this
portly volume he includes no fewer than twenty-six Madrigals,
contributed by many of the most famous living English composers. The
work helped to make the practice of Madrigal-singing very popular in
England, and to this day its influence is great and few programmes of
Madrigal-music are ever issued without some specimen taken from this
splendid collection.
And it is to Morley we owe a delightful contemporary setting of words
by Shakespeare--the beautiful Lyric "It was a lover and his lass" from
_As You Like It_. This is one of the very few things which we
possess--with the words by Shakespeare and the music by a contemporary
{24} musician. Unfortunately, the charming song has been often sadly
mutilated by editors, sometimes by the introduction of unwarranted
"accidentals" and also by actual curtailment. I have, however, had the
opportunity of referring to one of the few copies in existence of the
original publication (formerly in the Halliwell-Phillip's collection),
and have so been enabled to issue it in its correct form. Various
attempts have been made to arrange it as a duet, on the ground that it
was sung in the play by "two pages." The dialogue which precedes the
song is very amusing and rather suggests that Shakespeare had some
little experience of the peculiar weaknesses of singers, both amateur
and professional. The following is the little episode in question:
_Enter Two Pages._
1st Page: Well met, honest gentleman.
Touchstone: By my troth, well met. Come sit, sit and a song.
2nd Page: We are for you: sit i' the middle.
1st Page: Shall we clap into't roundly, without
hawking or spitting or saying we are
hoarse; which are the only prologues
to a bad voice?
2nd Page: I'faith, i'faith; and both in a tune,
like two gipsies on a horse.
_As You Like It_, Act V., scene 3.
The words "two gipsies on a horse" have been {25} taken to suggest that
as the two gipsies must have ridden one behind the other, the two pages
should sing, not in unison, but one after the other. Hence the effort
to arrange the music in Canon, as it is termed. But there is no
warrant for this; neither will the song admit of it.[1]
With respect to his Instrumental writing, in addition to many examples
for the Virginals, he wrote for combined instruments, as will be seen
later. Much of his Virginal-music is contained in the _Fitzwilliam
Collection_, and in Will Forster's _Virginal Book_ in Buckingham
Palace. For combined instruments may be mentioned the seven Fantasias,
and there is also a collection called _First Book of Consort Lessons
for Six Instruments, Lute, Pandora, Cittern, Bass Viol, Flute and
Treble Viol_. Writing on this collection Dr Burney does not take a
very high estimate of its musical value: "they seem to have been
intended for Civic Feasts" (he says), "and Master Morley, supposing
perhaps that {26} the harmony which was to be heard through the
clattering of knives, forks, spoons, and plates, with the jingling of
glasses and clamorous conversation of a City feast, need not be very
accurate or refined, was not very nice in setting parts to these tunes,
which are so far from correct that almost any one of the City Waits
would have vamped as good an accompaniment on the spot."
I question if Dr Burney is justified in this scathing criticism. I do
not suppose he ever heard them performed, for the good reason that
there is no complete set of parts to be found, and there is no record
of any such being in existence in his time. A few years ago I did my
best to get these little "Band tunes" performed, but at first only the
Viol and Flute parts could be found. Later on I was fortunate enough
to discover a Cittern part in the Bodleian Library, and, later still, a
part for the Pandora has been found in the Christ Church Library. We
still want the parts for Lute and Bass Viol, but with these four we get
a very good representation of the original, and at the Exhibition
initiated by the Worshipful Company of Musicians we had one of these
little tunes played by the six instruments, under the direction of the
Rev. W. Galpin. We had to supply parts for Lute and Bass Viol, but as
we had the original Harmony supplied {27} by the Flute (i.e. a small
Recorder), which was an inner part, and by the Cittern and
Pandora--both of which played Chords--we could not go far wrong. The
effect was both interesting and charming, and altogether discounted
Burney's unreliable criticism. It would be a great delight to all
lovers of this early music if the two missing parts could be found, but
I fear we shall hunt in vain.
His Sacred works include two Services and an Anthem, which was
published in Barnard's collection, and a setting of the Burial Service,
which appears in Boyce's collection. There are also examples, in MS.
amongst the Harleian MSS., in the Christ Church Library at Oxford, and
the Fitzwilliam and Peterhouse Libraries at Cambridge. A curious
thing, rather, in connection with his Sacred works is, that, unlike his
secular compositions, none was published during his lifetime.
His style was not so broad as that of Tallis or so noble as that of
Byrd, but he had a great influence upon the art. His own compositions
include examples of his talent in many directions. As a theoretical
writer he is really distinguished above his contemporaries, and
contributed to the stores of Sacred, Secular, and Instrumental music,
besides writing for the stage.
{28}
Morley's early death was a real loss to English music, and he was
mourned by all his contemporaries. One of the most touching
testimonies is a beautiful _Lament for Six Voices_ by Thomas Weelkes,
himself a distinguished composer, whom we shall consider later. The
words are as follows:
A remembrance of my friend Mr. Thomas Morley.
Death hath deprived me of my dearest friend,
My dearest friend is dead and laid in grave,
In grave he rests until the world shall end,
The world shall end, as end must all things have.
All things must have an end that nature wrought
That nature wrought must unto dust be brought.
Another poetical testimony to Morley was written in his life-time, and
may be given here. It is supposed to be by Michael Drayton:
Such was old Orpheus' cunning,
That senseless things drew near him;
And herds of beasts to hear him.
The stock, the stone, the ox, the ass came running.
Morley! but this enchanting
To thee, to be the music god, is wanting;
And yet thou needst not fear him.
Draw thou the shepherds still, and bonny lasses,
And envy him not stocks, stones, oxen, asses.
[1] Mr Arkwright gives us an interesting bit of information in
connection with Morley and Shakespeare. "Morley lived in St Peter's,
Bishopsgate, between 1596 and 1601, and his name appears in two _Rolls
of Assessments for Subsidies_. In the earlier of these documents is
the name of William Shakespeare, his goods being valued at the same
amount as Morley's. He and Shakespeare both appealed against the
assessment, and it may be supposed some amount of personal intercourse
existed between them."
{29}