Biography
Thomas Morley, an English composer trained under William Byrd, took up the post of master of the choristers at Norwich Cathedral in 1583 and held it through 1587. He then moved to London, where he served as organist at St Paul’s Cathedral beginning in 1587. From 1598 onward he additionally controlled the publishing patents originally granted to Byrd. Working across sacred forms such as anthems, psalms and motets as well as secular categories that included madrigals, solo songs, keyboard pieces and instrumental compositions—dances, variations and ensemble works—Morley exerted wide influence as editor, composer and musicographer. His anthologies of Italian madrigals supplied with English words helped establish the genre as a standard feature of Elizabethan musical life. As compiler he assembled the notable collection “The Triumphes of Oriana,” an important landmark in the history of the English madrigal. The widely circulated treatise “Plaine and Easie Introduction,” cast in dialogue form, further secured his reputation as a teacher of musical practice.