Herman Brearley (died 1940) was an English cathedral organist, who served in

Blackburn Cathedral Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin with St Paul, is an Church of England, Anglican (Church of England) cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England ...

Background

Herman Brearley was born in

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

, Yorkshire. In 1905 he and his wife lived in Hastings. He was a chorister and then assistant organist at

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

. He was appointed Conductor of the Preston Choral Society in 1918, and conductor of the Blackburn Philharmonic Choral Society in 1922. He was also the Conductor of the Meistersingers Society, the Northrop Male Voice Choir and the Grammar School Society. He was also Blackburn Borough organist, the first holder of the post, 1922 - 1930. His family moved to Blackburn in 1924. He was also Music Master at

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) is a co-educational free school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1509 as a boys' school, it is now a co-educational independent free school with over 1200 students from ages 4 to 18. Pupils ...

. In 1935 he became teacher of singing, sight-singing and musical dictation at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music a ...

. In 1937 he succeeded Harold Dawber as Chorus Master of the

Hallé Choir The Hallé Choir is a large symphonic chorus of around 170 singers based in Manchester, England. It was founded as ''Manchester Choral Society'' alongside the Hallé Orchestra in 1858 by Sir Charles Hallé. The choir gives around ten concerts a ...

.The Hallé tradition: a century of music By Michael Kennedy

Private life

He married Mabel Daisy Root (1880–1962) who was a pianist and piano teacher. They had three children including Molly Brearley who led

Froebel Educational Institute Froebel College is one of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History The college was founded as a women's teacher training college in 1892 by followers of Friedrich Fröbel. The Froebel Society had been formed in 1874 ...

from 1955 to 1970.

Career

Assistant Organist of : *

???? - 1895 Organist of: *Halstead Parish Church, Essex, 1895–1901 *Holy Trinity, Hastings 1901 - ???? *All Saints, Hastings ???? - 1916 *

1916 - 1939

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brearley, Herman English classical organists British male organists Cathedral organists People from Batley 19th-century births 1940 deaths Male classical organists