Catalogue description Papers of David Munrow

A performance-centred archive, largely comprising files of music that relate to concerts given by the Early Music Consort of London (founded and directed by David Munrow) and to their audio recordings. In addition, the archive contains Munrow's scores and arrangements for television and film productions, as well as some radio scripts. Material relating to Munrow, Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance(1976), and some correspondence, is also included.

The collection is arranged as follows: DM/1, Correspondence; DM/2, Concerts; DM/3, Music; DM/4, Recordings; DM/5, Film; DM/6, Television; DM/7, Radio; DM/8, Publications; DM/9, Miscellaneous Material.

Robert Spencer Collection, Royal Academy of Music Library. Spencer (1932-1997), English lutenist, guitarist and singer, frequently performed with Munrow's Early Music Consort of London.

Munrow, David John, 1942-1976, early woodwind instrumentalist

No access conditions apply.

Purchased in 1993 from from Iaan Wilson (occasional Early Music Consort of London member), who acquired the Munrow collection from Sotheby's. In addition to the archive material catalogued, there is a range of books (not all music-related) and scores (unmarked) owned by Munrow that will be housed as appropriate within the main body of the Library of the Royal Academy of Music (their source to be noted as David Munrow in the main catalogue). All marked scores have been incorporated in the archive.

• Early Music Consort of LondonFilms
• Music
• Radio
• Television

David John Munrow (1942-1976), an early woodwind instrumentalist, with a particular expertise in the baroque recorder, is best remembered as an expert and pioneering exponent of early music. Through his founding of the Early Music Consort of London, which performed a range of music that had remained largely unheard for centuries, Munrow developed a broad audience for music from the medieval period through to the late baroque, played on authentic instruments. This audience was further developed through his regular and popular broadcasts on Radio 3, his many recordings, and through his scores and arrangements for a number of historical films and televsion programmes.

Munrow was born in Birmingham, 12 August, 1942. At King Edward VI School, Birmingham, he learned to play the bassoon and the recorder. Before reading English at Pembroke College, Cambridge (1961-64), Munrow travelled in South America (Voluntary Service Overseas, Peru), where his experience of indigenous music and traditional instruments - which he began to collect avidly - made a lasting impression. At Pembroke College, Munrow was elected President of the University Music Club. In addition to forming a recorder consort, and chamber ensembles, he began to give lively lecture-recitals to demonstrate the range of woodwind instruments. The lecture-recitals were given with the assistance of Christopher Hogwood, and with Gillian Reid (married to Munrow in 1966). In 1964, Munrow began an MA programme at the University of Birmingham, studying D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy. From 1964-66, Munrow was a member of the woodwind band of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was during this period that he founded the Early Music Consort (in 1967), which made its London début in 1968. In addition to Munrow, the Consort comprised Christopher Hogwood, James Bowman, Oliver Brookes, and James Tyler, and was frequently supplemented by other musicians as the occasion required. The Consort was highly successful and performed constantly in the UK and internationally. Recordings further enhanced the Consort's reputation, and it received a Grammy Award in 1976 (for The Art of Courtly Love, Best Chamber Music Performance).

Munrow's academic career continued alongside his performance career, at Leicester University (1967-74) and at the Royal Academy of Music (1968-75). Recordings made during this period include Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (under both Sir Adrian Boult and Neville Marriner), and The Art of the Recorder(1975). Munrow's research interests led him to extend and promulgate the early music repertoire through innovative programmes that typified the Early Music Consort. Contemporary composers also wrote new compositions with the Early Music Consort and its instrumentation in mind: Peter Dickinson, Translations(1971); Elisabeth Lutyens, The Tears of the Night(1972); and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies used the Consort on-stage in performances of Taverner(1972).

Munrow's passion to communicate with a wide audience was evident in his involvement in radio, television and the cinema. Between 1971 and 1976, he presented the popular Radio 3 programme Pied Piper, broadcasting four programmes per week. In addition, Munrow's pre-eminent expertise in early music soon led to numerous commissions from television and film producers keen to enhance their productions with authentic incidental music. Such commissions included arranged and original scores for the BBC television productions The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and Elizabeth R, and film scores for The Devils(with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies), and Zardoz.

Towards the end of his short life (he died by his own hand, 15 May, 1976, at the age of 33), Munrow began to develop an interest in the liturgical music of the Renaissance, and planned a new series of concerts in this field with the Early Music Consort. His last recording (Music of the Gothic Era) reflected this new direction.

Source: Grove, with additions.

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