Michael Morrow (2 October 1929 – 20 April 1994) was an Irish artist, ornithologist, musician and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

who, together with John Beckett, founded the British

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

group

Musica Reservata In music history, ''musica reservata'' (also ''musica secreta'') is either a style or a performance practice in ''a cappella'' vocal music of the latter half of the 16th century, mainly in Italy and southern Germany, involving refinement, exclusiv ...

in London during the late 1950s. He directed the group, which became famous for its ground-breaking and vigorous approach to performing

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and early

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century ''ars nova'', the mus ...

, until it was disbanded in the 1980s.

Beginnings

Norman Michael MacNamara Morrow was born on 2 October 1929, in London, to his Irish parents Larry and Léonie Morrow. His formal education began in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, when he was sent to St Andrew's school in Clyde Road. However, as Michael suffered from Christmas disease, a form of

haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

, he had to be educated at home. Between 1946 and 1947, the family lived in London, where Michael attended the Hammersmith School of Art. When the family returned to Dublin and lived in

Fitzwilliam Square Fitzwilliam Square () is a Georgian garden square in the south of central Dublin, Ireland. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built, and is the smallest. The middle of the square is composed of a private park, which f ...

, Michael continued his studies at the National College of Art. The family then moved to Belfast, where he attended the Belfast College of Art. After about six months he returned to the National College of Art in Dublin, where one of his classmates was Beatrice ffrench-Salkeld, daughter of the ''avant-garde'' artist Cecil ffrench-Salkeld. Beatrice later married the Irish writer and playwright,

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely ackno ...

. A little later, Beatrice's sister Celia dated the artist Reginald Gray, who was also a friend of Michael's. Michael taught Reginald and Celia to play the

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

. Michael also befriended John ffrench, whose work was exhibited with Beatrice and Michael's. John lived at Castleffrench, near

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

in the West of Ireland. As Michael had developed an interest in ornithology and falconry, he spent time at Castleffrench, where he painted, played music and hawked. Michael eventually rejoined his family, who now had moved back to

. After a couple of years the family left and moved to a house on Strand Road at Merrion, overlooking Dublin bay. At this point, in 1950, Michael met the young musician and harpsichord player John Beckett in the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ) is Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is "To collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the ...

. This chance meeting would, in time, alter the course of both young men's lives. Having won the Henry Higgins Travelling Scholarship while studying in the National College of Art, Michael spent a year in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Paris and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where he shared a pension with John ffrench. He returned to Dublin in September 1952 with Werner Schürmann, a sculptor and singer whom he had met in Munich. In 1953, Michael accompanied the tenor John Bilton on lute for four twenty-minute radio programmes, devised and presented by John Beckett, entitled ''

John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...

's Achievement as a Song Writer''. These were broadcast in July and August on

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

. Later in the year he designed scenery for the new

Pike Theatre The Pike Theatre was a theatre located in Herbert Lane, Dublin, Ireland.The building was the Mews for No 6 Herbert Place (now No 43 Herbert Lane and is now occupied as offices) History Established in 1953 by Alan Simpson and Carolyn Swift, the P ...

Club, Dublin, founded by Alan Simpson and Carolyn Swift. It was hoped that the tiny theatre would stage the first performance of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's play ''

Waiting for Godot ''Waiting for Godot'' ( or ) is a 1953 play by Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett, in which the two main characters, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters w ...

'', but this was not to be; it was finally performed in the Pike in October 1955.

Move to London

As there was little or no work for Michael in Dublin, he finally left for England at the end of 1953, and settled down in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, where John Beckett was now living. At some time during this period, Michael and John Beckett worked in Forte's Monaco restaurant in

Piccadilly Circus Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End of London, West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a ''List of road junctions in the Unite ...

, famous for its musical fountain. When not operating the fountain, Michael spent his time transcribing old music from a variety of sources found in libraries and museums in London. When in Dublin, he had studied important manuscripts in Marsh's Library and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, especially ones containing lute music. He now became interested in music of the thirteenth century and onwards, which meant that he had to teach himself various systems of notation to transcribe pieces into modern notation.

Musica Reservata

During the mid 1950s, Michael, John Beckett and the recorder player John Sothcott played together and discussed medieval and early Renaissance music in various Hampstead coffee bars. Michael was determined to inject more life and vigour into their performances, in contrast to the accepted style of the period. This decision was based on his observations when listening to European and non-European folk music, in which medieval traditions of singing and playing had been preserved. Michael, the two Johns and the counter-tenor Grayston Burgess often played and rehearsed either in Michael's flat or in a converted chapel at 17 Holly Mount, Hampstead, which was owned by Heinz and Ruth Liebrecht. Towards the end of 1959, Michael married Hedy Pelc. She came from an Austrian

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family that had moved to England in 1938. Hedy lived in Hampstead, and she and Michael had met through a mutual friend. After they had married, they shared a flat with John Beckett and his wife Vera in

Frognal Frognal is a small area of Hampstead, North West London in the London Borough of Camden. Frognal is reinforced as the name of a minor road, which goes uphill from Finchley Road and at its upper end is in the west of Hampstead village. Histor ...

. Later they moved and finally settled in 9 Aberdare Gardens, Hampstead. The first proper public concert given by Musica Reservata took place in

Fenton House Fenton House is a 17th-century merchant's house in Hampstead in North London which belongs to the National Trust, bequeathed to them in 1952 by Lady Binning, its last owner and resident. It is a detached house with a walled garden, which is ...

, Hampstead on 30 January 1960. Many more concerts followed, including one in the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

on 26 June 1963, and most importantly, the so-called 'début' concert held in the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...

, on the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...

, which took place on 2 July 1967. The group shot to fame after this and thereafter it was frequently engaged for concerts and recordings; see the separate entry

. In the early 1970s, tension began to grow between Morrow (who was disorganised by nature) and Beckett, and soon a rift began to appear in the relationship. By the end of 1973, John left Musica Reservata, though he never lost his admiration for Michael.

Andrew Parrott Andrew Parrott (born 10 March 1947) is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering "historically informed performances" of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including contemporary music. He conducted th ...

then conducted the group until it was disbanded in the 1980s.

Death

Michael Morrow died on 20 April 1994 from Hepatitis C. John Beckett attended his funeral at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

, where he made an impromptu speech in praise of his friend. In July 1995, a 'Colloquium on Early Music in Memory of Michael Morrow' was held in Heinz and Ruth Liebrecht's house in Hampstead. The theme was ''New Thoughts about Old Music''. Lasting one day, it consisted of talks given by

Margaret Bent Margaret Bent CBE , (born Margaret Hilda Bassington; 23 December 1940) is an English musicologist who specialises in music of the late medieval and Renaissance eras. In particular, she has written extensively on the Old Hall Manuscript, Engli ...

David Fallows David Fallows (born 20 December 1945) is an English Musicology, musicologist specializing in music of the late medieval music, Middle Ages and early Renaissance music, Renaissance, as well as the performance practice of music. He is a leader in ...

, Tess Knighton, Warwick Edwards and

Christopher Page Christopher Howard Page (born 8 April 1952) is an English expert on medieval music, instruments and performance practice, together with the social and musical history of the guitar in England from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth. He h ...

.''John S. Beckett'', p. 360; printed programme for ''New Thoughts about Old Music'' supplied by Seán O'Leary, 22 July 2007.

References

* * * *

Beginnings

Move to London

Musica Reservata

Death

References

Further reading and available sources