Brewer, Sir (Alfred) Herbert
Brewer, Sir (Alfred) Herbert
Brewer, Sir (Alfred) Herbert, English organist, choirmaster, and composer; b. Gloucester, June 21, 1865; d. there, March 1, 1928. After serving as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral (1877–80), he was an organ scholar at Exeter Coll., Oxford (1883). He then was a student at the Royal Coll. of Music in London (1883–85). He was organist at Bristol Cathedral (1885) and St. Michael’s, Coventry (1886–92), after which he served as organist and choirmaster at Gloucester Cathedral from 1896 until his death. In 1926 he was knighted. Among his works were the cantatas Emmaus (1901; partly scored by Elgar) and The Holy Innocents (1904), patriotic odes, such as England, My England, songs, and organ pieces.
Bibliography
A. Brewer, Memories of Choirs and Cloisters: Fifty Years of Music (London, 1931).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire