Brewer lived in Gloucester 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 Gloucester Cathedral 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. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford in 1884.[2]
Brewer was knighted in 1926.[5] His memoirs, Memories of Choirs and Cloisters, were published posthumously in 1931.[4][6]
Musicedit
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".[1] 'The Fairy Pipers' was his most popular song, and it was taken up and recorded by Clara Butt between 1917 and 1921.[7]
The greater part of his life was devoted to the advancement of the standards of ecclesiastical music.[8] Some of his church music has been recorded on the Priory label.[9] His Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in D major are in the standard repertoire of Anglican church music. An organ work, Marche Héroïque, is also revived from time to time (and was heard at the televised 1979 funeral of Lord Mountbatten).
Worksedit
Organ worksedit
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 worksedit
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
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 worksedit
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
Orchestraledit
Three Elizabethan Pastorals for voice and orchestra (1906)
Summer Sports, suite for chorus and orchestra (1910)
herbert, brewer, alfred, june, 1865, march, 1928, english, composer, organist, organist, gloucester, cathedral, from, 1896, until, death, contributed, good, deal, three, choirs, festival, years, 1898bornalfred, 1865, june, 1865died1, march, 1928, 1928, aged, o. Sir Alfred Herbert Brewer 21 June 1865 1 March 1928 was an English composer and organist As organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1896 until his death he contributed a good deal to the Three Choirs Festival for 30 years 1 Herbert BrewerHerbert Brewer 1898BornAlfred Herbert Brewer 1865 06 21 21 June 1865Died1 March 1928 1928 03 01 aged 62 Occupation s Composer organistMemorial to Herbert Brewer in Gloucester Cathedral Contents 1 Life 2 Music 3 Works 3 1 Organ works 3 2 Choral works 3 3 Transcriptions for organ of Elgar s works 3 4 Orchestral 3 5 Song 4 References 5 External linksLife editBrewer lived in Gloucester 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 Gloucester Cathedral 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 He matriculated at Exeter College Oxford in 1884 2 In December 1896 he succeeded C Lee Williams 1852 1935 as organist and choirmaster of Gloucester Cathedral His pupils there included Ivor Novello Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells 3 Although his professional career was spent in the provinces his three decades of involvement in planning and organising the Three Choirs Festival brought him into contact with a wide range of composers and other artistic figures both from Britain and the continent including Robert Bridges Edward Elgar Glazunov H Rider Haggard Hubert Parry Arthur Quiller Couch Ravel Saint Saens and Sibelius 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 Ackte 4 Brewer was knighted in 1926 5 His memoirs Memories of Choirs and Cloisters were published posthumously in 1931 4 6 Music editAs 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 1 The Fairy Pipers was his most popular song and it was taken up and recorded by Clara Butt between 1917 and 1921 7 The greater part of his life was devoted to the advancement of the standards of ecclesiastical music 8 Some of his church music has been recorded on the Priory label 9 His Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in D major are in the standard repertoire of Anglican church music An organ work Marche Heroique is also revived from time to time and was heard at the televised 1979 funeral of Lord Mountbatten Works editOrgan works edit Meditation on the name of BACH Solitude An impression Elegy Introduction and Fugato Marche heroique Reverie A Thanksgiving Processional Carillon Mvmt 3 from A Little Organ Book Interlude in F Eventide Cloister Garth Paean of Praise Canzonetta Praeludium in EbChoral works edit 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 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 ATranscriptions for organ of Elgar s works edit 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 2Orchestral edit Three Elizabethan Pastorals for voice and orchestra 1906 Summer Sports suite for chorus and orchestra 1910 Song edit The Fairy Pipers 1912 text Frederic Weatherly 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 HarveyReferences edit a b Edwards F G Brewer Sir Alfred Herbert in Grove Music Online 2001 Foster Joseph 1888 1892 Brewer Alfred Herbert Alumni Oxonienses the Members of the University of Oxford 1715 1886 Oxford Parker and Co via Wikisource Hurd Michael The Ordeal of Ivor Gurney 1978 a b Herbert A Brewer Memories of Choirs and Cloisters ed John Morehen Stainer amp Bell Obituary The Times 2 March 1928 The curious case of the Three Choirs clones Hereford Times 3 August 2006 Clara Butt sings The Fairy Piper Obituary The Musical Times April 1928 pp 315 16 and 367 8 The Choral Music of Herbert Brewer Priory PRCD797 The Complete Organ Works of Sir Herbert Brewer Priory PRCD1057External links editFree scores by Herbert Brewer in the Choral Public Domain Library ChoralWiki Free scores by Herbert Brewer at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP Preceded byCharles Lee Williams Organist and Master of the Choristers of Gloucester Cathedral1897 1928 Succeeded byHerbert Sumsion Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Herbert Brewer amp oldid 1172568562, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
