Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter three of Twelve Good Musicians From John Bull to
Henry Purcell. This is a librevox recording. All Librivo's recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Twelve Good Musicians from John
Bull to Henry Purcell by Frederick Bridge, Chapter three Thomas
(00:27):
Morley fifteen fifty seven two sixteen o three. The next
of our twelve musicians in chronological order of birth is
Thomas Morley, born in fifteen fifty seven when Bird was
a young man, though his course was run long before
that veteran had finished with the affairs of this world.
(00:50):
He was a pupil of Bird, who was probably a
chorister of Saint Paul's Cathedral. In fifteen eighty eight he
graduated with a Bachelor of Music at Oxford, and some
three years later was appointed organist of Saint Paul's. This
position he did, however, not hold long, as in fifteen
(01:10):
ninety two he was appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
In fifteen ninety eight he was granted the license which
had previously been held by Talis and BYRD for the
exclusive right of printing and selling books of music and
rule paper in. Many of the musical works which were
published at that time were issued by St. Peter Short,
(01:33):
William Barley and others as the assigns of Thomas Morley.
In sixteen o two he resigned his positions at the
Chapel Royal, probably from ill health, as one gathers from
the introduction to his Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical
Music that he was rather a confirmed involid. Some have
(01:57):
taken the year of his resignation as that of his death,
but there is nothing to support this, and though Hawkins
and Bernie are at one in placing his death in
sixteen oh four, the correct date is sixteen oh three.
Details of Morley's life are scanty. By his works, we
must know him. His compositions are both vocal and instrumental,
(02:20):
sacred and secular, and in addition to his work in
the various branches of composition, much of his fame rests
upon his authorship of first really satisfactory treatise on music,
The Plain and Easy Introduction already referred to. This work
is full of interest and has been a book of
(02:41):
reference and a 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 unforced gentleman who could not
read music at sight when asked to do so by
(03:04):
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 Saint Martin's Halbergstadt.
It is interesting to observe that more than one of
his books was translated into German, e g. The Cansenets
(03:26):
or Little Short Songs to three voices, published here first
in fifteen ninety three, was translated into German and issued
at Kassel in sixteen twelve and at Rostok in sixteen
twenty four, and the Ballets for five voices of fifteen
ninety five was issued at Nurnberg in sixteen o nine.
(03:51):
This is a striking testimony to his merits. But most
celebrated of his publications was the great edition of Madrigal's Call,
called the Triumphs of Orehana. 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
(04:12):
includes no fewer than twenty six madricals composed by many
of the most famous living English composers. The work helped
to make the practice of madrical singing very popular in England,
and to this day its influence is great, and few
programs of magical music are ever issued without some specimen
(04:33):
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 Last
from as You Like It. This is one of the
very few things which we possess with words by Shakespeare
and the music by a contemporary musician. Unfortunately, the Charming
(04:56):
Song has been often sadly mutilated by Edie, sometimes by
the introduction of unwarranted accidentals, and also by actual curtailmen.
I have, however, had the opportunity of referring to one
of the few copies in existence of the original publication
(05:16):
formerly in the Hollowell Phillips collection, and have so been
able 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
(05:38):
of the peculiar weaknesses of singers, both amateur and professional.
The following is the little episode in question. Enter two pages.
First page, Well met, honest gentlemen, touchtone by my troth,
Well met, Come sit sit in a song. Second page,
(06:00):
We are for you sit in the middle. First page
Shall we clap into roundly without hawking or spitting or
saying we are a horse, which are the only prologues
to a bad voice? Second page in faith and faith,
and both in a tune like two gypsies on a horse.
This from As You Like It, Act five, Scene three.
(06:23):
The words two gypsies on a horse have been taken
to suggest that, as the two gypsies 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
(06:44):
song admit of it. 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 Forrester's Virginal Book in Buckingham Palace. Four combined
(07:06):
instruments may be mentioned, the seven Fantasias, and there is
also a collection called First Book of Consort Lessons for
six instruments lute, pandora, cistern, bass, viol flute and trouble veal.
Writing on this collection, doctor Burney does not take a
very high estimate of its musical value. They seem to
(07:30):
have been intended for civic feasts, he says, and Master
Morley supposing perhaps that the harmony which was to be
heard through the clattering of knives, fork spoons and plates,
with jingling of glasses and clamorous conversation of a city
feast not be very accurate or refined, was not very
(07:51):
nice in setting parts to these tunes, which is so
far from correct that almost any one of the city
weights would have vamped as good and accompaniments on the spot.
I question if doctor Burney as justified in this scathing criticism.
I do not suppose ye had ever heard them perform,
for the good reason that there is no complete set
(08:12):
of parts to be found, and there's 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 perform, but at first only the viol and
flute parts could be found. Later on I was fortunate
enough to discover a sittern part in the Bodleian Library,
(08:33):
and later still a part for the pandora has been
found in the christ Church Library. We still want the
parts for Loot and bass Veal, 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
(08:54):
six instruments under the direction of Reverend W. Galpin. We
had to supply parts for lut and bass Ville, but
as we had the original harmony supplied by the flute
i e. A small recorder which was an inner part,
and by the cistern and pandora, both of which played chords,
(09:14):
we could not go far wrong. The effect was both
interesting and charming, and altogether discount At Bernie'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 Vane. His sacred
works include two Services and an Anthem, which was published
(09:38):
in Bernard's collection, and a setting of the burial service
which appears in Boyce's collection. There are also examples in
manuscript amongst the Harleian manuscripts 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
(09:58):
is that, unlike his secular compositions, none was published during
his lifetime. His style was not so broad as that
of Talus, or so noble as that of Byrd, but
he had a great influence upon the art. His own
compositions include examples of his talents in many directions. As
(10:19):
a theoretical writer, he is really distinguished above his contemporaries,
and contribute it to the stores of sacred, secular and
instrumental music besides writing for the stage. Morley's early death
was a real loss to English music, and he was
mourned by all his contemporaries. One of the most touching
(10:40):
testimonies is a beautiful lament for six voices by Thomas Wilkes,
himself a distinguished composer whom we shall consider later. The
words are as follows, a remembrance of my friend, mister
Thomas Morley. Death hath deprived me of my dearest friend.
And my dearest friend is dead and laid in grave,
(11:03):
and 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 lifetime, and may be given here.
(11:24):
It is supposed to be by Michael Drayton. Such was
old Orpheus's 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 needest not fear him. Draw thou the shepherd
(11:47):
still in bonny lasses, and envy him, not stocks, stones,
oxen asses. End of Chapter three
Chapter three of Twelve Good Musicians From John Bull to
Henry Purcell. This is a librevox recording. All Librivo's recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Twelve Good Musicians from John
Bull to Henry Purcell by Frederick Bridge, Chapter three Thomas
(00:27):
Morley fifteen fifty seven two sixteen o three. The next
of our twelve musicians in chronological order of birth is
Thomas Morley, born in fifteen fifty seven when Bird was
a young man, though his course was run long before
that veteran had finished with the affairs of this world.
(00:50):
He was a pupil of Bird, who was probably a
chorister of Saint Paul's Cathedral. In fifteen eighty eight he
graduated with a Bachelor of Music at Oxford, and some
three years later was appointed organist of Saint Paul's. This
position he did, however, not hold long, as in fifteen
(01:10):
ninety two he was appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
In fifteen ninety eight he was granted the license which
had previously been held by Talis and BYRD for the
exclusive right of printing and selling books of music and
rule paper in. Many of the musical works which were
published at that time were issued by St. Peter Short,
(01:33):
William Barley and others as the assigns of Thomas Morley.
In sixteen o two he resigned his positions at the
Chapel Royal, probably from ill health, as one gathers from
the introduction to his Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical
Music that he was rather a confirmed involid. Some have
(01:57):
taken the year of his resignation as that of his death,
but there is nothing to support this, and though Hawkins
and Bernie are at one in placing his death in
sixteen oh four, the correct date is sixteen oh three.
Details of Morley's life are scanty. By his works, we
must know him. His compositions are both vocal and instrumental,
(02:20):
sacred and secular, and in addition to his work in
the various branches of composition, much of his fame rests
upon his authorship of first really satisfactory treatise on music,
The Plain and Easy Introduction already referred to. This work
is full of interest and has been a book of
(02:41):
reference and a 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 unforced gentleman who could not
read music at sight when asked to do so by
(03:04):
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 Saint Martin's Halbergstadt.
It is interesting to observe that more than one of
his books was translated into German, e g. The Cansenets
(03:26):
or Little Short Songs to three voices, published here first
in fifteen ninety three, was translated into German and issued
at Kassel in sixteen twelve and at Rostok in sixteen
twenty four, and the Ballets for five voices of fifteen
ninety five was issued at Nurnberg in sixteen o nine.
(03:51):
This is a striking testimony to his merits. But most
celebrated of his publications was the great edition of Madrigal's Call,
called the Triumphs of Orehana. 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
(04:12):
includes no fewer than twenty six madricals composed by many
of the most famous living English composers. The work helped
to make the practice of madrical singing very popular in England,
and to this day its influence is great, and few
programs of magical music are ever issued without some specimen
(04:33):
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 Last
from as You Like It. This is one of the
very few things which we possess with words by Shakespeare
and the music by a contemporary musician. Unfortunately, the Charming
(04:56):
Song has been often sadly mutilated by Edie, sometimes by
the introduction of unwarranted accidentals, and also by actual curtailmen.
I have, however, had the opportunity of referring to one
of the few copies in existence of the original publication
(05:16):
formerly in the Hollowell Phillips collection, and have so been
able 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
(05:38):
of the peculiar weaknesses of singers, both amateur and professional.
The following is the little episode in question. Enter two pages.
First page, Well met, honest gentlemen, touchtone by my troth,
Well met, Come sit sit in a song. Second page,
(06:00):
We are for you sit in the middle. First page
Shall we clap into roundly without hawking or spitting or
saying we are a horse, which are the only prologues
to a bad voice? Second page in faith and faith,
and both in a tune like two gypsies on a horse.
This from As You Like It, Act five, Scene three.
(06:23):
The words two gypsies on a horse have been taken
to suggest that, as the two gypsies 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
(06:44):
song admit of it. 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 Forrester's Virginal Book in Buckingham Palace. Four combined
(07:06):
instruments may be mentioned, the seven Fantasias, and there is
also a collection called First Book of Consort Lessons for
six instruments lute, pandora, cistern, bass, viol flute and trouble veal.
Writing on this collection, doctor Burney does not take a
very high estimate of its musical value. They seem to
(07:30):
have been intended for civic feasts, he says, and Master
Morley supposing perhaps that the harmony which was to be
heard through the clattering of knives, fork spoons and plates,
with jingling of glasses and clamorous conversation of a city
feast not be very accurate or refined, was not very
(07:51):
nice in setting parts to these tunes, which is so
far from correct that almost any one of the city
weights would have vamped as good and accompaniments on the spot.
I question if doctor Burney as justified in this scathing criticism.
I do not suppose ye had ever heard them perform,
for the good reason that there is no complete set
(08:12):
of parts to be found, and there's 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 perform, but at first only the viol and
flute parts could be found. Later on I was fortunate
enough to discover a sittern part in the Bodleian Library,
(08:33):
and later still a part for the pandora has been
found in the christ Church Library. We still want the
parts for Loot and bass Veal, 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
(08:54):
six instruments under the direction of Reverend W. Galpin. We
had to supply parts for lut and bass Ville, but
as we had the original harmony supplied by the flute
i e. A small recorder which was an inner part,
and by the cistern and pandora, both of which played chords,
(09:14):
we could not go far wrong. The effect was both
interesting and charming, and altogether discount At Bernie'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 Vane. His sacred
works include two Services and an Anthem, which was published
(09:38):
in Bernard's collection, and a setting of the burial service
which appears in Boyce's collection. There are also examples in
manuscript amongst the Harleian manuscripts 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
(09:58):
is that, unlike his secular compositions, none was published during
his lifetime. His style was not so broad as that
of Talus, or so noble as that of Byrd, but
he had a great influence upon the art. His own
compositions include examples of his talents in many directions. As
(10:19):
a theoretical writer, he is really distinguished above his contemporaries,
and contribute it to the stores of sacred, secular and
instrumental music besides writing for the stage. Morley's early death
was a real loss to English music, and he was
mourned by all his contemporaries. One of the most touching
(10:40):
testimonies is a beautiful lament for six voices by Thomas Wilkes,
himself a distinguished composer whom we shall consider later. The
words are as follows, a remembrance of my friend, mister
Thomas Morley. Death hath deprived me of my dearest friend.
And my dearest friend is dead and laid in grave,
(11:03):
and 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 lifetime, and may be given here.
(11:24):
It is supposed to be by Michael Drayton. Such was
old Orpheus's 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 needest not fear him. Draw thou the shepherd
(11:47):
still in bonny lasses, and envy him, not stocks, stones,
oxen asses. End of Chapter three
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