David Munrow

David Munrow (12 August 1942 – 15 May 1976) was a British musician and early music historian.

Biography and career

Munrow was born in Birmingham and was the son of Birmingham University dance teacher Hilda Norman Munrow and Albert Davis 'Dave' Munrow, a Birmingham University lecturer and physical education instructor who wrote a book on the subject. David Munrow attended King Edward's School, Birmingham until 1960. He excelled academically.

In 1960 David Munrow went to Peru, teaching English under the British Council student teacher scheme.^[1] He returned with Bolivian flutes and other obscure instruments. Studying English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, he noticed a crumhorn on a friend's wall and threw himself into independent study that climaxed in his book Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (1976). From his starting position as a pianist, singer and bassoonist he taught himself many old instruments. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as a bassoonist but soon played instruments of Shakespeare's time. Although he displayed talent on a wide variety of instruments, he had a particular lasting influence as a recorder player. His English style of discreet, controlled expression contrasts to the greater tonal flexibility of the Continental style espoused by the Dutch recorder player Frans Brüggen and others.

By 1967 he was a lecturer in early music at the University of Leicester and married to Gillian Reid. With Christopher Hogwood he formed the Early Music Consort, each of whose core members was an expert in his or her own right. Sometimes other professional musicians were employed when necessary, such as Nigel North and Robert Spencer, both highly regarded lutenists. Beginning in 1968, he toured the world, unearthing obscure instruments in every country he visited. He commissioned reconstructions of instruments related to the cornett and rackett from, amongst others, Otto Steinkopf. Two television programmes made him a household name: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Elizabeth R (1971).

Munrow's two contributions to film music were, fittingly, for visionary British directors: Ken Russell's The Devils (1971) and Zardoz (1974), written and directed by John Boorman. The latter included arrangements of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 for early music instruments.

He was a man of manic energy. In his relatively short life he released over 50 albums, some of which are now available on CD. As well as his recordings with the Early Music Consort, he recorded with Michael Morrow's Musica Reservata, Alfred Deller and the King's Singers. He recorded Bach and Monteverdi many times but his widest influence was in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. His 3-record set with the Early Music Consort The Art of the Netherlands issued in 1976 (EMI SLS5049), was particularly influential in popularising the genre [1].

On BBC Radio 3 he presented Pied Piper, a multi-ethnic, centuries-spanning spread of music from Monteverdi to the Electric Light Orchestra rock group. Munrow also had dealings notably with The Young Tradition and Shirley and Dolly Collins.

Apart from his regular radio slot and other programmes, he also appeared on television, most notably in a series entitled Ancestral Voices (BBC2) in a London studio, and Early Musical Instruments (ITV) filmed on location at Ordsall Hall, Salford. By such means, he introduced many people to a whole new world of audio experience. Sadly, these specific programmes were transmitted posthumously.

His personal interests were travel, sailing, jazz and antiques. He was also a linguist. In addition, he wrote some articles on music, especially for his own recordings.

Munrow committed suicide in 1976;^[2] the deaths of his father and father-in-law, to whom he dedicated his last book, are thought to have contributed to his death by hanging.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

Arguably, David Munrow did more than anyone else in the second half of the 20th century to popularise early music in Great Britain, despite a career lasting barely ten years. Indeed, this fact was underscored when the committee selected one of his recordings for the Voyager Golden Record, which was sent on the Voyager space probes on an interstellar journey.

David Munrow left behind him not only his recordings, but a large collection of musical instruments. The Munrow Archive at the Royal Academy of Music holds a collection of his letters, papers, TV scripts, scores, musical compositions and books. The collection is accessible to the public. The online catalogue of the British Library Sound Archive reveals his many recording entries, and those of many other noted personages.

Information about the life and work of David Munrow can be found in obituaries about him in 1976 (particularly the OUP journal Early Music), and in the following sources: a detailed piece in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by Christopher Hogwood; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; The Art of David Munrow, a record set with a biography by Arthur Johnson, the producer of Pied Piper and on the old vinyl sleeve of the Renaissance Suite.

Selected discography

• Recordings with Musica Reservata
  • French Court Music of the Thirteenth Century (1967)
  • Music from the 100 Years War (1968)
  • Music from the Decameron (1969)
  • 16th Century Italian Dance Music (1970)
  • Music from the Court of Burgundy (1971)
• Recordings with The Early Music Consort, directed by David Munrow
  • Ecco la primavera - Florentine Music of the 14th Cent (1969)
  • Music of the Crusades (1970)
  • The Triumphs of Maximilian I (1970)
  • Music for Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain (1972)
  • The Art of Courtly Love (1973)
  • Praetorius - Dances and Motets (1973)
  • Music of Guillaume Dufay: Missa "Se La Face Ay Pale" (1974)
  • Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (1976)
  • Monteverdi's Contemporaries (1976)
  • Music of the Gothic Era (1976)
  • Greensleeves to a Ground (1976)
  • Festival of Early Music - Music from 14th Century Florence, Music of the Crusades & The Triumphs of Maximilian (1976)
  • Henry Purcell: Birthday Odes for Queen Mary (1976)
  • The Art of the Netherlands (1976)
• The Young Tradition and Early Music Consort
  • Galleries (1968)
• The Round Table & David Munrow
  • Spinning Wheel (1969)
  • "Saturday Gigue/Scarborough Fair" (single) (1969)
• Shirley and Dolly Collins & the Early Music Consort of London
  • Anthems in Eden (1969)
• Royal Shakespeare Wind Band, directed by Guy Wolfenden
  • Music From Shakespeare's Time (1969)
• David Munrow, Gillian Reid, Christopher Hogwood
  • Pleasures of the court - Festival dance music by Susato & Morley (1971)
• David Munrow, Oliver Brookes, Robert Spencer, Christopher Hogwood
  • The amorous flute (1973)
• David Munrow solo or in various combinations
  • Telemann: Suite for Recorder and Orchestra, Concerti for Recorder and Orchestra by Sammartini and Handel
  • The Art of the Recorder (1975)
  • The Art of David Munrow (1971 - 1976)
• Music for radio, television and cinema
  • The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC TV) (1970)
  • Elizabeth R (BBC TV) (1970)
  • The Devils (directed by Ken Russell) (1971)
  • Zardoz (directed by John Boorman) (1973)
  • Tolkien's The Hobbit (BBC radio) (1973)
  • La Course en tête Documentary on Belgium Cyclist Eddie Merckx. Soundtrack released as Renaissance Suite (1974)

Awards and recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

• David Munrow (conductor) & the Early Music Consort of London for The Art of Courtly Love (1977)

See also

• Jordi Savall
• Philip Pickett

Similar early music performers with an interest in renaissance and medieval music.

References

1. ^ David Munrow: Pied Piper. "Biography". Accessed on 31 October 2011 at: http://www.davidmunrow.org/biography.htm.
2. ^ "Henry VIII And His Six Wives: David Munrow Conducting The Early Music Consort Of London". http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/music/1104/classical/various.htm. Retrieved 1 June 2009. 

External links

• Website dedicated to David Munrow, with biography
• Discography
• Podcast interview with Munrow's recording producer and other resources.

Persondata
Name	Munrow, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1942
Place of birth
Date of death	1976
Place of death