The Music of "It's Instrumental!": Thomas Morley and "The First Book of Consort Lessons "

A woodcarving depicting the inside of a publishing house such as the one Morley employed.

On September 14th, Musick's Company has the pleasure of presenting a collection of instrumental music that includes a collection of galliards, alemanes and pavins titled "The First Book of Consort Lessons". It might seem odd to think that an established musician like Morley would collect other people's work and promote it, but enjoyers of fine music behaved then as we do now -- instead of Spotify playlists, they had publications like this!

One of the most recognizable names in English music history, Thomas Morley (1557 – early October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, singer and organist of late Renaissance music. He was one of the foremost members of the English Madrigal School, and did much of the work in creating a madrigal style reminiscent of the Italian school. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians states that Morley was "chiefly responsible for grafting the Italian shoot on to the native stock and initiating the curiously brief but brilliant flowering of the madrigal that constitutes one of the most colourful episodes in the history of English music."

However, Morley didn't just compose music -- he collected and published it, as well. Thomas Morley's (1557-1602) First Book of Consort Lessons included some of the first examples of a 'broken consort' or a "Morley Consort". A "consort" is another term for an instrumental ensemble used in 16th and 17th century England. Consort music enjoyed considerable popularity at court and in the households of the wealthy in the Elizabethan era. Though we can't ask Morley why he created this collection of music, we can hazard a guess: American musicologist Sydney Beck theorized that Morley was actually responding to the success in theaters by aggregating and publishing these works. In the 1599 collection, Morley dedicates his work to the Lord Mayor of London and "the most worshipful Aldermen of the same". He even gives his reasoning for doing so: "that I might not abase in denoting them to a meane patron... I chose your Lordships vertue with the rest, to grace their deserts with your gracious favours". It would appear that Morley made this collection in an attempt to win his friends some good fortune!

A "broken consort" consists of a consort comprising instruments from more than one family -- both strings and woodwinds, for example. A typical combination was three plucked string instruments (e.g. lutes and a cittern); two bowed instruments (viols); and a recorder or transverse flute. Each instrument had a clearly defined role: the two viols the uppermost and lowest parts; the flute or recorder a midway counterpoint; the lute ornamented the melody; and the bandore and cittern provided a kind of basso continuo in the lower and upper registers respectively. Our September 14th concert will feature music composed by William Byrd and Peter Phillips, two of Morley's contemporaries.

If you enjoyed learning about Thomas Morley and his contributions to music, please consider joining us on September 14th at 4:00 pm, at Crestwood Christian Church, where Musick's Company will present "It's Instrumental! A Presentation of Early Instrumental Music". This exciting concert will delight you with a variety of music never performed by the company at our regularly-scheduled concerts, including works by Bach, Eccles, Merula and more. Admission by donation ($15/$10 for students). Please join us in spending our afternoon awash in the majesty of early music!