Memorial to Herbert Brewer in Gloucester Cathedral

Sir Alfred Herbert Brewer (21 June 18651 March 1928) was an English composer and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. As organist of

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...

from 1896 until his death, he contributed a good deal to the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester) and originally fe ...

for 30 years.Edwards, F.G. 'Brewer, Sir (Alfred) Herbert', in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001)

Life

Brewer lived in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

his whole life. He was the organist at two of its churches, and also founded the city's choral society in 1905. He had been a

chorister in his boyhood, and began his organ studies there under C. H. Lloyd. He was educated at the Cathedral School, Oxford and was the first organ scholar at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. He matriculated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

in 1884. In December 1896 he succeeded C. Lee Williams (1852-1935) as organist and choirmaster of Gloucester Cathedral. His pupils there included

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in psy ...

and

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

. Although his professional career was spent in the provinces, his three decades of involvement in planning and organising the

brought him into contact with a wide range of composers and other artistic figures both from Britain and the continent, including

Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was a British poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, Glazunov, H Rider Haggard,

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...

Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a Cornish people, British writer who published using the pen name, pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication ''The Oxfor ...

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, Saint-Saëns and

Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

. In 1913 Brewer was entrusted with conducting the premiere of Sibelius's tone-poem for soprano and orchestra, '' Luonnotar'', Op. 70. The soloist was

Aino Ackté Aino Ackté (originally Achte; 24 April 18768 August 1944) was a Finland, Finnish dramatic soprano. She was the first international star of the Finnish opera scene after Alma Fohström, and a groundbreaker for the domestic field. Biography Ack ...

.Herbert A Brewer. ''Memories of Choirs and Cloisters''
ed. John Morehen, Stainer & Bell Brewer was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed in 1926. His memoirs, ''Memories of Choirs and Cloisters'', were published posthumously in 1931.

Music

As a composer, Brewer was fairly conservative. His output includes church music of all types, cantatas, songs, instrumental works, and orchestral music. Grove divides the works into those with "serious aspirations", such as the cantatas ''Emmaus'' (Gloucester, 1901) and ''The Holy Innocents'' (Gloucester, 1904), and lighter pieces including ''Three Elizabethan Pastorals'' for voice and orchestra (Hereford, 1906), ''Summer Sports'', a suite for chorus and orchestra (Gloucester, 1910), and the song cycle ''Jillian of Berry'' (Hereford, 1921), which "represent him more favourably". 'The Fairy Pipers' was his most popular song, and it was taken up and recorded by

Clara Butt Dame Clara Ellen Butt (1 February 1872 – 23 January 1936) was an English dramatic contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s. She had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, ...

between 1917 and 1921. The greater part of his life was devoted to the advancement of the standards of ecclesiastical music. Some of his church music has been recorded on the

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

label. His

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

and

Nunc dimittis The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 to 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate transl ...

in D major are in the standard repertoire of

Anglican church music Anglican church music is music that is written for Christian worship in Anglican religious services, forming part of the liturgy. It mostly consists of pieces written to be sung by a church choir, which may sing ''a cappella'' or accompanied b ...

. An organ work, ''Marche Héroïque'', is also revived from time to time and was heard at the televised 1979 funeral of

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

.''Marche Heroique for Organ'', Boosey & Hawkes
/ref>

Works

Organ works

* ''Meditation on the name of BACH'' * ''Solitude'' * ''An impression'' * ''Elegy'' * Introduction and Fugato * ''Marche héroïque'' * ''Reverie'' * ''A Thanksgiving Processional'' * 'Carillon' (Mvmt 3 from ''A Little Organ Book'') * Interlude in F * ''Eventide'' * ''Cloister Garth'' * ''Paean of Praise'' * Canzonetta * Praeludium in Eb

Choral works

* ''Emmaus'', cantata (1901) * ''The Holy Innocents'', cantata (1904) * ''Bow down Thine ear, O Lord'' * ''Brothers in Arms'' a marching song, words by H. Godwin Chance (1914) * ''Fear Not, O Land'' * ''Gloucester'' tune written for

Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It ...

's hymn 'Come, let us with our Lord arise' (New English Hymnal 254) * ''God is our hope and strength'' * ''Let the people praise thee'' * ''I heard the bells'' * Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in D * Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in E flat * Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in F * Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in A

Transcriptions for organ of Elgar's works

* Prelude and "Angel's Farewell", from ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38 * ''In the South'', Op. 50 * ''Chanson de Matin'', Op. 15/1 * ''Chanson de Nuit'', Op. 15/2

Orchestral

* ''Three Elizabethan Pastorals'' for voice and orchestra (1906) * ''Summer Sports'', suite for chorus and orchestra (1910)

Song

* ''The Fairy Pipers'' (1912), text

Frederic Weatherly Frederic Edward Weatherly, KC (4 October 1848 – 7 September 1929) was an English lawyer, author, lyricist and broadcaster. He was christened and brought up using the name Frederick Edward Weatherly, and appears to have adopted the spelling 'F ...

* ''Jillian of Berry'', song cycle (1921) * ''Miller’s Green'', song cycle (1921) * ''A Sprig of Shamrock: Four Old Irish Airs'', song cycle (1925), text F W Harvey

References

External links

* *
Simon Johnson plays ''Marche Héroïque''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Herbert 1865 births 1928 deaths English composers English classical organists English cathedral organists Musicians from Gloucester Knights Bachelor Composers awarded knighthoods Musicians awarded knighthoods Pupils of Charles Villiers Stanford English male classical organists