MORLEY, Tuomss (1557-e.1604). An Eng lish musician and composer. The place of his birth cannot be definitely fixed, but it is supposed that lie was born in London and educated at Saint Paul's Cathedral. According to his own statement he also studied under Bird. In 1588 he became bachelor of music at Oxford and in 1591 was deputy chorister at Saint. Paul's, taking his regular turn of duty as organist. In 1592 he was made epistler of the Chapel Royal. He strove hard during his entire career for the ad vancement of English music, and devoted himself exclusively to the development of vocal music. His principal work and that upon which his reputation is chiefly based was A Phtinc and Easie Introduction to Practical) Musiche, pub lished in 1597. It was the first practical work on music issued in England ; was translated into German and published throughout the Ger man States by Trost of Halberstadt about 1660. In England it remained an authority up to so late a period as 1770. He wrote many composi
tions for the Church, none of them, however, be ing printed in his lifetime. Tallis's monopoly of music-printing expired in 1596 and two years later Morley obtained a similar one, and under his license "William Barley, Thomas Est, alias Snodham, Peter Short, John Windet, and others." printed several hooks as the "assigne of Thomas Morley." He resigned from the Chapel Royal in 1602. That he was an excellent musician his ballets and madrigals prove. He was also su perior in melodic invention to any of his pred ecessors, and is generally credited with having disentangled music from the fettered condition in which lie found it. and to have broken away from the slavish adherence to the 'Modes' which had characterized other composers. From his time forward composers designedly wrote melo dies meant to express the emotional content of the text.