(c. 1557 -- 1602). He was born in Norwich in 1557 or 1558, the son of a brewer, and probably received his earliest musical education as a chorister at Norwich Cathedral.
He became organist of the cathedral in 1583, graduated BMus at Oxford in 1588, by 1589 was organist of St Paul's Cathedral in London, and from 1592 was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
Not so Morley, who early took over the leadership of the campaign for the Italian madrigal; himself a gifted composer, he carried it forward by example as well as precept. His first Canzonets for three voices of 1593, dedicated to the Countess of Pembroke, were direct imitations of the light-hearted type of brief Italian madrigal.
Its fresh, bright, somewhat brittle, style took on at once, and the book went into several editions. He was extraordinarily energetic and prolific; volume after volume followed in quick succession: a First Book of Madrigals for four voices, the first in which the Italian name was used, next year.
In 1596, Morley was granted by Queen Elizabeth the monopoly of music printing, upon the expiration of William Byrd's patent,2 and promptly assiged it in his turn to its current holder Thomas East, but clearly employed it to help him promote not only his own work, but also the Italianate madrigal in general.
The Canzonets for five and six voices (1597) contain Morley's maturest work and reveal him well in sad and affecting moods as well as cheerful: he was clearly of a mercurial temperament. Not content with this, in these years Morley made two collections of Italian madrigals, adapting the words to English.
In addition to the Italians Morley included two Italianate madrigals by the gifted Catholic exile, Peter Phillips, who became organist to Philip II's daughter and son-in-law at their Court in Brussels
Morley crowned his career by editing the famous Triumphs of Oriana in 1601. This was the culmination of the cult of the Queen in music, celebrating her victories over all her enemies (the last of them being Essex). The idea was derived from the Venetian Il Trionfo di Dori of some years before.
During these years Morley lived in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, where Shakespeare also was living in 1598. They were rated at the same assessment for the subsidy, and apparently both appealed. It seems quite probable that they knew each other, since Morley composed the music for 'It was a lover and his lass' and may have done also for 'O mistress mine.'
Next year he was dead, only forty-six. His feverish energy may indicate that he was a consumptive; apparently everybody fell for his charm, and he certainly was the most popular composer of madrigals, with a catchiness in his melodies that made them easy to remember.