First Booke of Balletts

work by Morley

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June 26, 2026

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The First Booke of Balletts is a 1595 collection by English composer Thomas Morley. It is an example of the balletto, a light vocal musical genre popular in Italy and England during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. These pieces were dancelike, often strophic, and featured a "fa-la-la" refrain. Morley's balletti expanded on the Italian model by incorporating more complex counterpoint and harmony, influencing later composers and the development of instrumental music. The term balletto also referred to a form of dramatic choreography popular in 15th-century Italy.12

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balletto
…and harmonic dimensions in his First Booke of Balletts (1595). Morley’s style influenced not only the English composers but also the German Hans Leo Hassler and his younger contemporaries who transformed the balletto in the early 17th century into a more instrumental and homophonic (chordal) style. The suites of the…
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…and harmonic dimensions in his First Booke of Balletts (1595). Morley’s style influenced not only the English composers but also the German Hans Leo Hassler and his younger contemporaries who transformed the balletto in the early 17th century into a more instrumental and homophonic (chordal) style. The suites of the…
Read More