Muriel Brunskill

Muriel Lucy Brunskill (18 December 1899 – 18 February 1980) was an English contralto of the mid-twentieth century. Her career included concert, operatic and recital performance from the early 1920s until the 1950s. She worked with many of the leading musicians of her day, including Sir Thomas Beecham, Albert Coates, Felix Weingartner and Sir Henry Wood.

Early years

Muriel Brunskill was born in Kendal, Westmorland, England, daughter of Edmund Capstick Brunskill. She studied singing in London and Paris with Blanche Marchesi. Her début was in 1920 at the Aeolian Hall, London. She sang at the Proms in 1921 in Elgar's Sea Pictures, when The Times commented that her singing was intelligent but lacked bite, and her diction was indistinct. By 1923, Brunskill's critical reputation was much higher: The Musical Times said, "She is clearly one of the elect as a Bach singer."

In 1922, Brunskill was recruited by the British National Opera Company where her roles included Amneris in Aida, Delilah in Samson and Delilah, Erda in the Ring and Emilia in Otello She remained with the company for six years, performing at Covent Garden, His Majesty's Theatre and on tour.

Her appearances for the Royal Philharmonic Society began in October 1925 at the Queen's Hall in a choral programme including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under Albert Coates, with Dorothy Silk, Walter Widdop and Robert Radford. In March 1927 she performed the Missa Solemnis in the RPS Beethoven memorial concert at the Royal Albert Hall, under Sir Hugh Allen, with Rosina Buckman, Parry Jones and Norman Allin.