PROGRAMME NOTES

A Memory Of David Munrow

Two counter-tenors, two treble recorders, viola da gamba, harpsichord (1977)

Peter Dickinson worked closely with David Munrow in the composition of his Translations (1971) and Recorder Music (1973). This short piece, A Memory of David Munrow, was written for a BBC concert in Manchester at which Munrow was due to play, but he died tragically a few months earlier. It is a tribute to a remarkable musician of outstanding gifts. The melody - a wordless lament sung in unbroken legato by the counter-tenors - is taken from Translations and so are the parts for recorders and harpsichord. The gamba melody comes from Recorder Music and also exists as Air for flute solo. These separate pre-existing elements are put together in a new way, with fully notated separate parts but no full score, to make an independent piece.

The first performance was given by James Bowman, Charles Brett (counter-tenors); John Turner, David Pugsley (recorders); Oliver Brooks (viola da gamba); and Keith Elcombe (harpsichord) on 7 May 1977. The first BBC R3 broadcast was from that concert on 17 March 1978.



© 2008-25 Estate of Peter Dickinson

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