Eventide

Sir Alfred Herbert Brewer (1865-1928) was the great Victorian organist of Gloucester cathedral (1897-1928). A local musical monarch, he was a firm disciplinarian with choristers, lay clerks, and assistant organists. It was said to have been a "bad day" if he played a wrong note! ;-)

His early musical training was as a chorister at Gloucester and then as a pupil of C. H. Lloyd. Before his appointment at Gloucester, he held positions in Coventry and Tonbridge.

Apart from his music, he lead an active public life, being appointed City High Sheriff in 1922, and was knighted in 1926.

As a composer, Brewer was fairly conservative. His output includes church music of all types, cantatas, songs, instrumental works, and orchestral music. The greater part of his life was devoted to the advancement of the standards of ecclesiastical music. His "Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in D major" is in the standard repertoire of Anglican church music. An organ work, "Marche Héroïque," is a grand piece, and one of the best of its type.

"Eventide" is dedicated to Dr. L. A. Hamand, and was published by Augener Ltd. in 1926, the year of Brewer's knighthood.

It is highly romantic in character, and is a superb example of those little "miniatures" at which Brewer excelled. The soft strings and flutes of the Swell carry the bulk of the work, but there are passages for the clarinet and solo flute as well. In addition, there is a fair amount of "thumbing down" on the Great while the hands are occupied on the Swell.

I made two recordings of this using Salisbury and Hereford, initially intending to offer them as a chance to compare. However, the Salisbury was clearly the "winner," so, I've only uploaded it.

The score is attached below, as well as a photo of A. Herbert Brewer taken in 1898, as well as a photo of the memorial plaque in his honor, located in Gloucester Cathedral, the place he spent most of his life and career.