David Munrow

David Munrow (August 12 1942 - May 15 1976) was a musician and early music historian. The son of a Birmingham University lecturer, he attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, until 1960.

Related Topics:
August 12 - 1942 - May 15 - 1976 - Early music - Birmingham University - Birmingham

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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 Cambridge University 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. By 1967 he was a lecturer at Leicester University and married to Gillian Reid. He teamed up with Christopher Hogwood to form the Early Music Consort. 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. In 1970 two television programs made him a household name - The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.

Related Topics:
Peru - British Council - Overseas Voluntary Scheme - Cambridge University - Crumhorn - Pianist - Bassoon - Royal Shakespeare Company - Shakespeare's - 1967 - Leicester University - Christopher Hogwood - 1968 - Cornett - Racket - The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Elizabeth R

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He was a man of manic energy. In his short life he released over 50 albums, many of them still in print. As well as his recordings with the Early Music Consort, he recorded with 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.

Related Topics:
Alfred Deller - King's Singers - Bach - Monteverdi - Renaissance - BBC Radio 3 - ELO

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Munrow committed suicide in 1976, while suffering from depression.

Related Topics:
Suicide - 1976

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Arguably, David Munrow did more than anyone else in the last century to popularize early music. This is his claim to fame, underlined by the fact that the committee that 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 in Ancestral Voices (BBC 2), and Early Musical Instruments (ITV). Here, he introduced many people to a whole new world of audio experience. Sadly, these specific programmes were transmitted posthumously in 1976.

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