Michael Morrow was an Irish artist, ornithologist, musician and musicologist. He was born in London on 2 October 1929 to Irish parents. Having won the Henry Higgins Travelling Scholarship while studying at the National College of Art, he spent a year in Munich, Paris and Florence. He left for England at the end of 1953 and settled in Hampstead. In the late 1950s he and John Beckett founded the early music group Musica Reservata in London. He died on 20 April 1994.

He directed Musica Reservata, which became famous for its “ground-breaking and vigorous” approach to performing Medieval and early Renaissance music. He based his approach on observations of European and non-European folk music, in which medieval traditions of singing and playing had been preserved. He transcribed old music from sources in London libraries and museums. In 1953 he accompanied the tenor John Bilton on lute for four radio programmes entitled John Dowland’s Achievement as a Song Writer.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morrow
• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25982854