Embodying Englishness: Alfred Deller, Purcell and the BBC in post-war England

British music historians and writers during the mid- to late 20th century not only credited countertenor Alfred Deller with the voice type’s re-emergence in modern performances, but equally identified his voice as specifically English and as historic. This article investigates how and to what purposes such claims were made by charting the reception of Deller’s voice and career through press reviews, promotional literature and broadcasts on the BBC. By understanding the purported authenticities that underpin assertions about the historicity of the countertenor voice, I demonstrate how Deller embodied references to an idealized past associated primarily with the English choral tradition and the composer Henry Purcell, placing his success in the context of key musical events of the 20th century, including the early-music revival and the so-called ‘English musical renaissance’.