David Munrow

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

Born in Birmingham, he was the son of Albert Munrow, a Birmingham University lecturer and physical education instructor who even wrote a book on the subject, and was so highly respected that a sports centre was named after him. David Munrow himself attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, until 1960. He excelled academically.

In 1960 David Munrow went to Peru, teaching English under the British Council Overseas Voluntary Scheme. 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 Age and Renaissance (1976). From his starting position as a pianist, singer and bassoonist he taught himself many long-dead instruments. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as a bassoonist but soon played instruments of Shakespeare's time. Although he displayed prodigious talent on a wide variety of instruments he had a particular lasting influence as a recorder player - his 'English' style of discreet, controlled expression being in marked contrast to the greater tonal flexibility displayed by the 'Continental' style espoused by the likes of Frans Brüggen. By 1967 he was a lecturer at the University of Leicester and married to Gillian Reid. He teamed up with Christopher Hogwood to form the Early Music Consort whose core members were all experts in their own rights. Sometimes other professional musicians were employed when necessary, such as Nigel North and the late 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 racket from, amongst others, Otto Steinkopf. In 1970 two television programmes made him a household name - The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.

He was a man of manic energy. In his short life he released over 50 albums, some of them becoming available again through CD reissues. 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 backwaters of the Gothic and Renaissance period. On BBC Radio 3 he presented "Pied Piper", a multi-ethnic, centuries-spanning spread of music from Monteverdi to ELO. Munrow also had dealings notably with The Young Tradition and Shirley and Dolly Collins.

His personal interests were travel, sailing, jazz and antiques. He was also something of a linguist. He also wrote a few articles on music, especially for his own recordings.

Munrow committed suicide in 1976.

Arguably, David Munrow did more than anyone else in the second half last century to popularize early music in Great Britain, despite a career lasting barely ten years. Indeed, this is underlined by the fact that the committee which chose the music for the Voyager Golden Record selected one of his recordings to be sent on the Voyager space probes on an interstellar journey.

Apart from his regular radio slot and other programmes he also appeared on television, most notably 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.

David Munrow left behind him not only his recordings, but also his huge collection of musical instruments. The Royal Academy of Music has a very large archival collection of his letters, programmes, notes, corrected TV scripts, scores, musical compositions, books etc. which are all accessible to the public. The online catalogue of the National Sound Archives (part of the British Museum) reveals his many recording entries, and those of many other noted people.

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

Robert Searle is in the process of collecting material for an unauthorized biography entitled The Pied Piper; The Musical Life of David Munrow. Any help ideally from anyone who knew would be gratefully acknowledged. Email address dharao4@yahoo.co.uk

[edit] Discography

(Highly selective)

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)
- Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (1976)
- Monteverdi's Contemporaries (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 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)
- Zardoz (directed by John Boorman) (1973)
- Tolkien's The Hobbit (BBC radio) (1973)
- La Course en tête Documentary on Belgium Cyclist Eddie Merckx (1974)