Albert Brewer | Bow Down Thine Ear, O Lord | for Clarinet Quintet

After purchase, you will receive the digital sheet music, and rehearsal play-along recordings created with NotePerformer 4 and the BBC Symphony Orchestra Core playback engine.

As you click on the image's right arrow, you will be able to listen to this piece on YouTube.

Alfred Herbert Brewer (1865–1928) was an English composer and organist who spent most of his career at Gloucester Cathedral, where he shaped the musical life of the Three Choirs Festival and taught pupils such as Herbert Howells and Ivor Gurney. Knighted in 1926, Brewer’s music reflects the Anglican tradition, blending conservative liturgical forms with Romantic harmonic richness.

His anthem Bow Down Thine Ear, O Lord, originally for choir, sets text from Psalm 86 in a solemn and prayerful style, making it especially suitable for Lenten services. This clarinet quintet arrangement translates Brewer’s choral textures into warm instrumental sonorities, distributing lyrical lines across the ensemble while preserving the harmonic depth of the original. Accessible for intermediate players, this version offers clarinettists a spiritually resonant and musically rewarding addition to their chamber repertoire.

Clarinet Quintet

1.      Clarinet in Eb, Clarinet in Bb

2.      Clarinet in Bb

3.      Clarinet in Bb, Alto Clarinet in Eb, Basset Horn

4.      Alto Clarinet in Eb, Bass Clarinet in Bb, Basset Horn

5.      Bass Clarinet in Bb, Contrabass Clarinet in Bb