Thomas Morell (/mɔːˈrɛl/; 18 March 1703 – 19 February 1784) was an English librettist, classical scholar,1 and printer.2
Life
He was born in Eton, Berkshire and educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge (BA, 1726, MA, 1730 and DD, 1743).
He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and in 1768 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society as a "Rector of Buckland in Hertfordshire, Author of the Greek Thesaurus lately published, and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Gentleman well skilled in Natural History and every branch of Polite Literature".45
He was appointed Garrison Chaplain at Portsmouth barracks in 1775.
Morell wrote the longest and most detailed surviving account of collaboration with Handel.6
He died in 1784 and was buried in Chiswick, London.
Librettos
He is best known as the librettist of the following of George Frideric Handel's oratorios:
- Judas Maccabaeus (1747).2
- Joshua (1748).
- Alexander Balus (1748).2
- Theodora (1750).2
- The Choice of Hercules (1751). Uncertain if Morell was the librettist.
- Jephtha (1752).2
- The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757). Morell was probably the librettist.
References
References
- Morell, Thomas (2004). "Morell, Thomas (1703–1784), classical scholar and librettist | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19201. Retrieved 2020-03-01. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- Smith, R. (2002). Thomas Morell and His Letter about Handel. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 127(2), 191-225. Retrieved March 1, 2020
- "Portrait of Thomas Morell | Royal Society Picture Library". Pictures.royalsociety.org. 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- "Morell; Thomas (1703 - 1784) - DServe Archive Persons Show". Collections.royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- The Manuscripts of J. Eliot Hodgkin, F.S.A., of Richmond, Surrey, Historical Manuscripts Commission 15th Report, Appendix, pt ii (London, 1897), 91-93
