The Gloucester Festival of 1928 was overshadowed by the death
of Sir Herbert Brewer. He was actively preparing the choirs for the event when he was suddenly taken ill. For a long time those who knew him and loved him best could not believe that he had left them. These, his many friends in the Western shires. and beyond, will be glad to have his reminiscences. The genial personality of the author is felt in every sentence of Memories of Choirs and Cloisters (The Bodley Head, 7s. 6d.). It is an informal book, the better (because the more spontaneous and natural) for having been left unrevised. It abounds in stories of the kind that are most enjoyed by those who are actively engaged in Church music. The humour of such stories is idiomatic. There is, for instance, the tale of Wesley, who when repri- manded by the Dean of Exeter for playing Rule, Britannia on the organ instead of the National Anthem, excused himself by saying that the organ-blower insisted on blowing the former tune into the organ. At the end of the book, Mr. W. H. Reed, who had co-operated with Sir Herbert in many a Festival, pays tribute to this loyal, progressive, unobtrusive musician.
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