Thomas Morell Explained

Thomas Morell (; 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".^{[3] [4]}

He was appointed Garrison Chaplain at Portsmouth barracks in 1775.

Morell wrote the longest and most detailed surviving account of collaboration with Handel.^[5]

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).
• Joshua (1747).
• Alexander Balus (1748).
• Theodora (1750).
• The Choice of Hercules (1750). Uncertain if Morell was the librettist.
• Jephtha (1752).
• The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757). Morell was probably the librettist.

Notes and References

1. Morell, Thomas . Morell, Thomas (1703–1784), classical scholar and librettist | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . 2004 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/19201 . 2020-03-01.
2. https://www.jstor.org/pss/3840463 Smith, R. (2002). Thomas Morell and His Letter about Handel. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 127(2), 191-225.
3. Web site: Morell; Thomas (1703 - 1784) - DServe Archive Persons Show . Collections.royalsociety.org . 2020-03-01.
4. Web site: Library and Archive Catalogue. Royal Society. 2020-03-01.
5. The Manuscripts of J. Eliot Hodgkin, F.S.A., of Richmond, Surrey, Historical Manuscripts Commission 15th Report, Appendix, pt ii (London, 1897), 91-93