Biography
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 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 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.
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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;[1] 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.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.