Not Half Bad

In Not half bad, the esteemed composer, organist and former RSCM Director Harry Bramma offers a rich and deeply personal memoir that spans nearly a century of musical and ecclesiastical life in Britain. From his formative experiences as a Yorkshire chorister, through his Oxford studies with Bernard Rose and David Jenkins, to his transformative leadership roles at Worcester Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral and the RSCM, Bramma charts a life devoted to excellence in sacred music. Told with wit, warmth and candour, this autobiography brings to life a remarkable era of church music, filled with vivid portraits of figures such as Melville Cook, Sir William McKie, Sydney Watson and Ralph Downes. Bramma reflects on the joys and trials of music-making in schools and cathedrals, on building choirs and championing standards, and on his theological insights that shaped both his approach to ministry and music. Not half bad is both a personal testament of faith and artistry, and a unique window into the changing landscape of church music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.