Brain was known for being careless. The horn he played for many years had lots of dents in it because he kept knocking it or dropping it. Benjamin Britten gave him a second copy of music for a new work he had written. Inside he wrote: "For Dennis - in case he loses the other one". His Alexander horn was badly damaged in his fatal crash. Normally it would have been thrown away, but it was saved and was restored by Paxmans of London and can be seen in the Royal Academy of Music's free museum.