Davitt Moroney (born 23 December 1950) is a British-born and educated

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, harpsichordist and organist. His parents were of Irish and Italian extraction – his father was an executive with the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate. From 1968 onward, he undertook his undergraduate and graduate studies in musicology at King's College London, the faculty of which was headed by

Thurston Dart Robert Thurston ("Bob") Dart (3 September 1921 – 6 March 1971), was an English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player. Along with Nigel Fortune, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post ...

, a great influence on the world of early music. Moroney later pursued advanced harpsichord studies with

Kenneth Gilbert Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December 16, 1931 – April 15, 2020) was a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist, and music educator. Biography Born in Montreal, Gilbert studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal under ...

and Gustav Leonhardt. Moroney also holds performance and teaching diplomas (1974) from the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. After earning his PhD in musicology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980 with a thesis on the music of Thomas Tallis and

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...

, he returned to Paris and worked mainly as a freelance performer until returning to the United States to serve on the faculty at UC Berkeley in 2001. He has given the first modern performances of much repertoire; the ''Livre de tablature de Clavescin'' by Marc Roger Normand Couperin of Turin, whose works he identified in 1997, the complete organ works of

Louis Couperin Louis Couperin (; – 29 August 1661) was a French Baroque composer and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie and moved to Paris in 1650–1651 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. Couperin worked as organist of the C ...

and a newly discovered autograph manuscript of harpsichord music by Henry Purcell. He has recorded

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

, Biber,

Couperin The Couperin family was a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era (17th—18th centuries). Louis Couperin and his nephew, François Coup ...

, and others. He won the 2000 Gramophone Early Music award for his recording of the complete keyboard music of

(see also: ''

My Ladye Nevells Booke ''My Ladye Nevells Booke'' (British Library MS Mus. 1591) is a music manuscript containing keyboard pieces by the English composer William Byrd, and, together with the ''Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'', one of the most important collections of Renais ...

'' and ''The

Fitzwilliam Virginal Book The ''Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'' is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who beque ...

''), published on

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label. History Hyperion is an independent British classical label that was established in 1980 with the goal of showcasing recordings of music in all genres and from all time period ...

, which he performed on harpsichord, chamber organ,

church organ Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to compositi ...

, and muselar. He has published critical editions of the work of various baroque composers, including a keyboard edition (and his own recording) of Johann Sebastian Bach's '' The Art of Fugue'' that contains his own completion of the final unfinished fugue. He has also rediscovered the 40 and 60 part mass ''

Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno The ''Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno'' is a musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, for 40 and 60 voices, by Florentine Renaissance composer Alessandro Striggio. It probably dates from 1565–6, during the reign of his employer, Cosimo I ...

'' by

Alessandro Striggio Alessandro Striggio (c. 1536/1537 – 29 February 1592) was an Italian composer, instrumentalist and diplomat of the Renaissance. He composed numerous madrigals as well as dramatic music, and by combining the two, became the inventor of madrigal c ...

, lost since the 17th century, of which he conducted what he believed to be the first performance since the 16th century on 17 July 2007 at the BBC Proms in London. Until 2001, he was also director of Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre, the French-Australian music publishing company which sold its LP business to Decca Classics in 1970.

References

British harpsichordists British classical organists British male organists 1950 births Living people Alumni of King's College London University of California, Berkeley faculty British performers of early music British keyboardists 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century classical musicians 20th-century organists 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century classical musicians 21st-century musicologists 20th-century British musicologists Male classical organists {{Musicologist-stub