For a few months between 1909 and 1910 the organ loft of Gloucester Cathedral was simultaneously the training ground for three of the 20th century’s most iconic cultural figures. These were the composer and poet Ivor Gurney (1906-11), composer Herbert Howells (1909-12) and Ivor Novello (190910), whose place in musical history would have been assured if he had just composed the song Keep The Home Fires Burning, but who went on to be a major composer, actor, playwright and impresario.
All three were among the teenage articled pupils of the cathedral organist, Sir Herbert Brewer. He would generally have had a few at any one time, generally ex-cathedral choristers, the sons of local lower middle class families. However of the three stellar pupils of Brewer at this time only Gurney fulfilled all those criteria. Howells was from the Grammar School at Lydney and Novello from Cardiff via Magdalen College School Oxford.
By the time Brewer was taking on these young pupils at Gloucester Cathedral that training method had been evolving over several centuries, having grown out of the apprenticeships available for membership of the medieval craft guilds. Over the course of the 19th century the system, as it was used by organists, became progressively more flexible as regards the length of time a pupil might spend with a master and also the legal arrangements behind the relationships. Typically organists would advertise vacancies they had for pupils in the trade journals of the time.
Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av Cotswold Life.
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Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av Cotswold Life.
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Gloucestershire After The War
Discovering the county’s Arts and Crafts memorials of the First World War
THE WILD SIDE OF Moreton-in-Marsh
The days are getting shorter but there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful, says Sue Bradley, who discovers how a Cotswolds town is becoming more wildlife-friendly and pots up some bulbs for an insect-friendly spring display
Mr Ashbee would approve
In the true spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement, creativity has kept the Chipping Campden community ticking over during lockdown
The Cotswolds at war
These might be peaceful hills and vales, but our contribution to the war effort was considerable
Trust in good, local food
‘I’ve been following The Country Food Trust’s activities with admiration since it was founded’
Why Cath is an open book
Cath Kidston has opened up almost every nook and cranny of her Cotswold idyll in a new book, A Place Called Home. Katie Jarvis spoke to Cath ahead of her appearance at this year’s Stroud Book Festival STROUD BOOK FESTIVAL – THIS YEAR FREE AND ONLINE: NOVEMBER 4-8
From the Cotswolds to the world
Most people know that the Cotswolds have featured in a fair few Hollywood movies and TV series.
The Wild Hunt
In search of the legendary King Herla in the Malvern Hills
Fighting spirit amid the flowers
Tracy Spiers visits Warwick, a beautiful town that is open for business and ready to welcome visitors
Final journey
Cheltenham author and volunteer on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR), Nicolas Wheatley, recounts the fascinating story of funeral trains