Background
Morley was born in 1557 in Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
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Morley was born in 1557 in Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
During his early years he studied composition with William Byrd and organ under Sebastian Westcote.
In 1588 Morley received a bachelor of music degree from Oxford and took the position of organist at St. Giles, Cripplegate.
This statement, however, lacks corroboration, and if Morley ever held the post he must have done so for a very short time.
On the 5th of July 1588 he was admitted Mus. Вас. at Oxford.
Four years later (July 24, 1592) he entered the Chapel Royal, where he successively filled the offices of epistler and gospeller.
On the 11th of September 1598 Morley received a licence for twenty-one years to print ruled music-paper and song-books in English, Latin, French or Italian.
His rights under this grant were assigned by him to various publishers.
In Burgon's Life of Gresham it is stated (ii. 465) that the registers of St Helen's, Bishopsgate, show that Morley lived in that parish.
This document (Act Book, 1603, fol.
171) describes him as " late parishioner of St Botolph's near Billingsgate, " but the registers of that parish contain no entries relating to him.
Morley was incontestably one of the greatest of the secular Elizabethan composers.
His madrigals, canzonets and ballets are as remarkable for their beauty as they are for their admirable workmanship, and his Introduction to Practicall Musicke, in spite of its frequent obscurity, is an invaluable source of information as to the state of musical science in England at the end of the 16th century.
Besides the above, services, anthems, motets and virginal pieces by Morley are to be found in various collections, both printed and manuscript.
Morley's influence on English music was most important in that he not only popularized the Italian style, but also established its distinctly Elizabethan manner.
He was one of the few English composers whose works were both reprinted at home and published abroad.
The last-mentioned collection is one of the earliest published examples of ensemble music with specific instrumentation--in this case, lute, pandore, cittern, flute, treble and bass viols.
Morley was married; he and his wife, Susan, had three children between 1596 and 1600.
