Episode 1 - Becoming David Munrow

Fifty years after David Munrow’s death, Edward Blakeman reflects on the music‑making, ambitions and legacy of the dynamic figure who helped transform Britain’s understanding of Early Music in the 1960s and 70s. Whether you know Munrow as a pioneering broadcaster and musician, or you’re discovering him for the first time, this series explores the spark and personality behind his remarkable rise.

Recorded at the Royal Academy of Music — home to a rich archive of Munrow’s papers, scores and personal notes — each episode draws on rare recordings, commercial releases and insights from music specialist Edward Breen, who has studied Munrow’s life in depth.

In this opening episode, Becoming David Munrow, Edward traces the unlikely path that set him on course for a ground-breaking career: from a childhood fascination with wind instruments to a formative trip to Peru collecting Andean pipes, and the early encounters with historic instruments that would shape his future. It’s the story of how Munrow became the right person, in the right place, at exactly the right time.