English Español
Français Nederlands
Deutsch русский
Japanese Chinese
Home | Browse | Choirs | Trebles | Singers | Films | Books | New Releases | Events | Search | | Links | Contact BCSD | Sign In
9 TREBLES Featured Boy Sopranos | All Trebles | Boy Altos | Soloist Recordings | Chorister of the Year | 78 RPM | Pop Singles

  Michael Morley    (b. 1935) Boy Soprano Soloist 
Print Friendly Page 
Michael Morley Michael Morley was known as the 'boy with the golden voice' as his 1950s records are quite exceptional. He was the first boy to record on LP for Decca and is one of the later boys featured on the CD series The Better Land.He was around 15 years of age at the time of his recordings.

Where is Michael Morley?

Stephen Beet has managed to trace most of the former boy sopranos who recorded on disc in the early-to-mid 20th Century and many of these boys' records have been featured in a series of CDs entitled 'The Better Land - Great Boy Sopranos of the 20th Century'. However one of the boys who features extensively has yet to be traced: Michael Morley.

He is not the Michael Morley who was Head Chorister at Christ Church, Oxford in 1953. Nothing was known at all about him until Stephen Beet found a scrap of paper in a file at the Caversham archives of the BBC stating that Michael had done several broadcasts in the Children's Hour and that his manager was Malcolm Parker from an organisation entitled Saturday Morning Concerts for Children based at 'Holmdale', Foley Road, Claygate, Surrey. His records would have been made during the early 1950s and he was probably the first boy to be recorded on LP as opposed to 78rpm disc.

Update-June 2008:
A concert programme was found dated 29th July 1951. Michael appeared at the Manor Theatre Sidmouth, Devon, in a series of 'International Celebrity Concerts'. Michael is described as "England's Phenomenal Boy Soprano of Television and Decca Record Fame", and appearing with him were Thirza and Vivienne Wtsall -- Cello, Violin and Piano. Anyone living near Sidmouth may be able to investigate a little and help find clues leading to the discovery of Michael Morley. The programme mentions that Mr and Mrs. Roberts of the "St Helen's Hotel" kindly reserved accommodation for him.

Stephen Beet would be grateful for any leads. Email: beetstphn@aol.co.uk

Some details of the original issues below are taken from or confirmed in the Decca 78rpm "F" series discography compiled by Michael Smith (2003) and Decca archive microfilm (NSA).
Related Sites
Review: Brief review of Michael from Gramophone, 1951
The Better Land

Search Google for 'Michael Morley': Web - Images
 
Featured Recordings Compact | Full
Michael Morley - Michael Morley
Michael Morley (Decca LM.4543 (10-inch), LP) November 1951
Featuring Michael Morley  
Four items came from earlier 78rpm recordings (q.v.), the remainder were also recorded during the three sessions of 2, 5 & 10 April 1951. Additionally the LP has: "If I can help somebody" / "Mighty lak' a rose" / "On Wings of Song" / Brahms' "Lullaby" all with John Wills, piano.

Review in "The Gramophone" (Dec. 1951, p. 158) by J.F. [? John Freestone]: "Michael Morley has a very pretty voice, especially in its upper range, and he sings well in tune, and with excellent diction for the most part. His voice does, however, lack the steadiness necessary for some of the songs. In 'The lass with the delicate air' the obvious pause between 'delicate' and 'air' shows that he has been carefully taught, but he rather overdoes it, and the effect is not what was intended, I am sure. . . . [He sings] in a way likely to appeal to a wide public. The accompaniments are well done by John Wills, and the recording, apart from a few blasts, is good."

Details of the items not previously issued on 78rpm are:
-- Mighty lak' a rose (incipit: Sweetest li'l' feller, everybody knows.) (song, 1901: wds Frank Lebby Stanton (1857-1927) - music Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (1862-1901)) (DR.16014-1)
-- If I can help somebody (as I pass along = incipit) (song, 1945: Alma (Irene) Bazel Androzzo [Alma I. Thompson] (b. 1912), arr. George L. Zalva) (DR.15991-1)
-- Lullaby (incipit: Slumber softly, good night.) (Johannes Brahms (1833-97): Fünf Lieder, op. 49 (1868), no. 4: "Wiegenlied" - Ger. wds of verse 1 adapted from the anthology of old German folksongs "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" in Karl Simrock "Die deutschen Volksbücher" (1851); verse 2 by Georg Scherer: Ger. incipit: "Guten Abend, gut Nacht" - here sung in Engl., transl. ?) (DR.15994-1)
-- On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn (1809-47), op. 34, no. 2) (DR.16012-1)
  1.   Bless this House (Brahe-Taylor)   = Better Land vol. 3
  2.   If I Can Help Somebody (Androzzo)   do. vol. 5
  3.   Mighty Lak' a Rose (Nevin-Stanton)   do. vol. 5
  4.   Bird Songs at Eventide (Coates)   do. vol. 5
  5.   Hark, Hark the Lark (Schubert)   do. vol. 3
  6.   The Lass with the Delicate Air (M. Arne)   do. vol. 3
  7.   On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn)   not yet on CD
  8.   Lullaby (Brahms)   = Better Land vol. 5
  Bless this house
  Lullaby
Review at   Lullaby
Michael Morley - Coates: Bird Songs at Eventide / Brahe: Bless this House
Coates: Bird Songs at Eventide / Brahe: Bless this House (Decca M.672 (10-inch), 78 RPM) September 1951
Featuring Michael Morley  
A: Bird Songs at Eventide (incipit: Over the quiet hills, slowly the shadows fall.) (song, 1926: wds Royden Barrie (pseud. of Harry Rodney Bennett (1890-1948)) - music Eric Coates (1886-1957))
Rec. 10 Apl. 1951 (matrix DR16013-1)
B: Bless this House (incipit: Bless this House, O Lord we pray. [orig.: Bless the House.]) (song, 1927: wds Helen Taylor (d. 17 Apl 1943) - music May Hanna Brahe (Mrs Morgan) (1884 [not 1885]-1956))
Rec. 2 Apl. 1951 (DR15993-1)
Both with John Wills (sic), piano
These pieces were also released in Nov. 1951 on Decca LP (10-inch) LM.4543 and are now on Amphion CDs "The Better Land" vols. 5 & 3 resp.
  Side A -   Bird Songs at Eventide (Coates)  
  Side B -   Bless this House (Brahe)  
no cover
M. Arne: The Lass with the Delicate Air / Schubert: Hark! Hark! The Lark! (Decca F.9782 (10-inch), 78 RPM) September 1951
Featuring Michael Morley  
A: The Lass with the Delicate Air (incipit: Young Molly who lives at the foot of the hill.) (song, publ. anon. with seven verses in "The Universal Magazine" (London), vol. 31, p. 95 (Aug. 1762): wds date from 1740 or earlier - music by Michael Arne (c.1740-86))
Rec. 2 Apl. 1951 (matrix DR15992-1) Morley sings verses 1,2 & 7.
B: Hark! Hark! The Lark! (serenade: F.P. Schubert (1797-1828): Ständchen "Horch, horch, die Lerch", 1826, D889 composed to wds by Shakespeare "Cymbeline" II.iii.22. The orig. German has verses 2 & 3 by Friedrich Reil; here Morley sings the Shakespeare verse twice in Engl.)
Rec. 5 Apl. 1951 (DR16011-1)
Both with John Wills (sic), piano.
These items were also released in Nov. 1951 on Decca LP (10-inch) LM.4543 and are now available on Amphion CD "The Better Land" vol. 3 (erroneously dated to 1950).
  Side A -   The Lass with the Delicate Air (M. Arne)  
  Side B -   Hark! Hark! The Lark! (Schubert)  
Michael Morley - Boy Soprano
Boy Soprano (London LPS 399, LP)
Featuring Michael Morley  
  1.   Bless This House (Brahe-Taylor)  
  2.   If I Can Help Somebody (Androzzo)  
  3.   Mighty Lak a Rose (Nevins-Stanton)  
  4.   Bird Songs at Eventide (Coates)  
  5.   Hark, Hark the Lark (Schubert)  
  6.   The Lass with the Delicate Air (Arne)  
  7.   On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn)  
  8.   Lullaby (Brahms)  
Other Recordings Compact | Full
Michael Morley - The Better Land Volume 5 - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1927-1957
The Better Land Volume 5 - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1927-1957 (Amphion PHI CD 189, CD) October 2003
Featuring The Better Land Series   Derek Barsham   John Bonner   Alan Bradbrook   Master John Brookman   Thomas Criddle   Master Leslie Day   Beverley Jones   Raymond Kinsey   Cyril Lewis   Ernest Lough   Michael Morley   Billy Neely   Robert Duncan Peel   Kenneth Purves   Robert Regent   Trevor Schofield  
* denotes recordings published for the first time
  1.   Rejoice Greatly (Messiah, Handel)   Master Raymond Kinsey
  2.   Mighty like a rose ( Nevin-Staton)   Master Michael Morley
  3.   If I can help somebody (Androzzo)   Master Michael Morley
  4.   Hark! Hark! the lark (Schubert)   Master Ernest Lough
  5.   There is a green hill far away (Mrs C.F. Alexander-Gounod)   Master John Bonner
  6.   On Wings of Song (England-Mendelssohn)   Master Thomas Criddle
  7.   Should he upbraid? (Shakespeare-Sir Henry Bishop)   Master John Bonner
  8.   Angels Serenade (La Seranata)   Master John Bonner
  9.   Birdsong at Eventide (Coates)   Master Michael Morley
10.   Y Deryn Pur -The Dove (arr. Somervell-Williams)   Master Cyril Lewis
11.   A song of long ago (D.Furber-A.E. Adams)   Master Trevor Schofield
12.   Nearer my God to Thee (Carey)   Master John Bookman
13.   A brown bird singing (Barrie-Haydn Wood)   Master Leslie Day
14.   Lullaby (Brahms)   Master Michael Morley
15.   O for the wings of a dove (Mendelssohn)   Master Kenneth Purves
16.   Father in Heaven* (Largo-Handel)   Master Robert Regent
17.   Hallelujah (Exsultate Jubilate-Mozart)   Master Billy Neely
18.   Abide with Me (Liddle)   Master Derek Barsham
19.   Angels Ever bright (Handel)   Master Robert Duncan Peel
20.   With Verdure Clad (The Creation-Haydn)   Master Raymond Kinsey
21.   Oh for a closer walk with God (Foster)   Master Raymond Kinsey
22.   Beekeeper's Introit * (arr. G. Dixon)   Master Alan Bradbrook (Private Recording 1957)
23.   A Song of Peace*   Master Beverley Jones
Email   Purchase from the producer, Stephen Beet You can order the Better Land CDs directly from producer Stephen Beet for £10.00 plus post and packing. £55 for the set of 6 CD's (which includes, as a special offer, Stephen R. Beet's book "The Better land - in search of the lost boy sopranos" E-mail for postage quotes: StephenRBeet@gmail.com PayPal address: beetstphn@aol.com Please make cheques payable to "Stephen Beet".
Michael Morley - The Better Land Volume 3 - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1927-1969
The Better Land Volume 3 - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1927-1969 (Amphion PHI CD 167, CD) 2000
Featuring The Better Land Series   Derek Barsham   Donald Collup   Robert Harris   Michael Morley   Billy Neely   Graham Payn   Kenneth Purves  
* denotes recordings published for the first time. This volume will shortly be deleted and replaced by the double CD volume The Better Land Volumes 3 & 4. Hurry to order now while stocks last.
  1.   Bless this House (H. Taylor-May H Brahe) (L)   Master Michael Morley
  2.   Beyond the Dawn (Sanderson-Weatherly)   Master Derek Barsham
  3.   Hear Ye Israel* (Mendelssohn) (L)   Master Kenneth Purves
  4.   The First Mercy (Blunt-Warlock) (L)   Master Billy Neely
  5.   Christopher Robin is saying his prayers* (A.A. Milne-H Fraser-Simpson) (L)   Master Billy Neely
  6.   On wings of Song (Mendelssohn-Elkin)   Master Derek Barsham
  7.   Somewhere a Voice is calling* (Newton & Tate)   Master Graham Payn
  8.   By that old armchair (Arale Dene)   Master Graham Payn
  9.   Angels ever bright (Handel) (L)   Master Kenneth Purves
10.   Children's Songs (Arensky) a) The Robin, b) A Fable, c) Sad little bird, d) Child & the butterfl   Master Billy Neely
11.   Hark Hark, the lark (Schubert) (L)   Master Michael Morley
12.   Hear my prayer/O for the wings of a dove (Mendelssohn- arr. Leslie Woodgate) (L)   Master Derek Barsham with the High Wycombe Orpheus Male Voice Choir
13.   The Lass with the delicate air (Michael Arne)   Master Michael Morley
14.   How Lovely are Thy Dwellings (Liddel)   Master Kenneth Purves
15.   Exultate Jubilate* (Mozart) (L)   Master Donald Collup
16.   Birdsong at Eventide (Barrie-Coates)   Master Robert Harris
17.   Nursery Scene, Boris Godounov (Moussorgsky)   Master Derek Barsham & Norman Lumsden, bass
Recorded 30 Apl. 1947 (AR11093 & 11094), with Gladys Palmer, contralto, Norman Lumsden, bass & London Symphony Orchestra cond. Stanford Robinson. Issued June 1947 on Decca K.1601. ["Better Land" the two parts separately in vols. 3 & 4]
18.   Father who hast made us brothers (Baron)   Master Derek Barsham
19.   Coventry Carol (Traditional, arr. Moore) (L)   Master Billy Neely
20.   The Holy City (Adams-Weatherly) (L)   Master Derek Barsham
Email   Available from the producer, StephenRBeet. See special offer. StephenRBeet@gmail.com
This page last modified on Monday, May 13, 2013
Copyright © 2013 The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory