What is Thomas Linley the younger?
[[File:Gainsborough, Thomas - Thomas Linley the younger - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|280px|Thomas Linley, painted by [[Gainsborough]] about 1771]] '''Thomas Linley''' (born [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[England]], 5 May 1756; died Grimsthorpe, [[Lincolnshire]] 5 August 1778) was an [[England|English]] [[composer]] and [[violin]]ist. He was born in the same year as [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and, like Mozart, he was an astonishing [[child prodigy]]. He would almost certainly have been one of England’s greatest composers if he had not died at the age of 22. ==Life== Thomas came from a musical family. His father, also called [[Thomas Linley the elder|Thomas Linley]], was a composer, singing teacher and [[harpsichord]] player. His young son was soon showing exceptional musical skills. We do not know who taught him the violin in his early years, but people writing at the time all say he was a brilliant player. He went to [[Italy]] to study the violin and [[Composition (music)|composition]] with [[Pietro Nardini|Nardini]] in [[Florence]]. He met Mozart there in 1770 and he also met [[Charles Burney]] in the same year. Burney wrote that Linley was the most promising genius of the time. In 1771, Linley went back to England. He was the [[concertmaster|leader]] of the orchestra in the [[theatre]] in [[Drury Lane]]. He often played [[concerto]]s between the acts of [[oratorio]]s. During the last five years of his life he composed a large amount of excellent music. Unfortunately a lot of it has been lost. [[Gainsborough]] twice painted a [[portrait]] of him. He died in a [[boat]]ing accident when he was on holiday with his family in [[Lincolnshire]]. ==References== *New Groves Dictionary of Music & Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, London 1980, {{ISBN|1-56159-174-2}} ==Other websites== * [http://www.cappellafede.com/MLK.html short biography of Thomas Linley, the Younger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818041616/http://www.cappellafede.com/MLK.html |date=2006-08-18 }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lin