Christopher Monk

Christopher Monk (28 December 1921 – 17 July 1991)[1] was an English musicologist, early music specialist, performer, and musical instrument maker. He was prominent in the mid-20th century revival of interest in Renaissance period wind instruments, particularly the cornett and serpent, and was involved in the historically informed performance movement.[2]

Education

Monk graduated in history from the University of Oxford, and studied trumpet under George Eskdale.[1]

Career

While teaching in schools he constructed his first cornett in 1955, and went on to pioneer building replicas and performing on them. He mastered the virtuoso cornett parts of Italian Renaissance composer Claudio Monteverdi's choral work, the Vespers of 1610, which were regarded at the time as impossible to play.

In the 1960s he became interested in the serpent, its shape appealing to his sense of humour.[1] In 1967, he formed the London Serpent Trio, with English players Andrew van der Beek and Alan Lumsden, performing new works and historical arrangements, both serious and whimsical, throughout Europe and North America.[3] In 1968 he devised a method of making cornetts and serpents out of a wood-resin composite material, which was considerably cheaper than carving them from wooden pieces and bonding them with leather. Thousands were made in this way, which helped to increase the interest and availability of the instruments.[2][4] He set up Christopher Monk Instruments to continue manufacturing cornetts and serpents. After his death in 1991 the workshop passed to his long-time collaborator and friend, English cornettist Jeremy West.[5][6]

In 1995 the Historic Brass Society created The Christopher Monk Award in his honour, to recognize people "who have made significant and life-long contributions to study and/or performance in the field of brass history".[7]

References

  1. Bevan, Clifford (20 July 1991). "Christopher Monk (Obituary)". The Times.
  2. van der Beek, Andrew (20 July 1991). "Obituary: Christopher Monk". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2023 via Lacock.
  3. Bevan 2000, p. 122.
  4. Yeo 2021, Monk, Christopher.
  5. Schmidt, Paul (April 1992). "Where did you get that thing?". Newsletter for United Serpents (8): 4.
  6. Curtis, Stanley (18 June 2023). "Jeremy West named 2023 Christopher Monk Award winner". Historic Brass Society. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  7. "Christopher Monk Award". Historic Brass Society. Retrieved 16 August 2023.

Bibliography


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