Songs of Herbert Murrill
Movements
In Youth Is Pleasure Piggësnye I Loved A Lass Love Is A Sickness Phillada Flouts Me Roister Doister From ‘Sonatina For Pianoforte’: Arioso Sleep The Bachelor A Thanksgiving to God
Notes
Herbert Murrill is probably best known for his wonderful Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in E, which is performed pretty much every other week in an Anglican church somewhere in the world.
His story is a fascinating one. In his short life of 43 years, he became the Royal Academy of Music’s youngest ever professor of composition at the age of 24. He joined the staff of the BBC in 1936, where eventually he became Head of Music. During the second-world-war he was a code-breaker at Bletchley Park, directing the choir, organising chamber music and directing opera there, bringing in many world-renowned musicians to perform there, whilst also working on Japanese codes and ciphers.
None of Murrill’s solo voice songs have been recorded, and many are unpublished and exist only in manuscript whilst others have fallen out of print. Some may not have been heard in more than 70 years. Following research and the discovery of his song manuscripts in the BBC archives, later in September 2024 we will release a new commercial album of Herbert Murrill’s complete extant songs for the record label First Hand Records.
This is an opportunity to hear a selection of his songs, ahead of the launch of the new album.
