Richard Langdon (1729 – 8 September 1803) was a British organist, mainly at

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

, where he spent his early years, and later at

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolu ...

and Armagh Cathedral. He also composed church music.

Early career

He was born in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in 1729, son of Charles Langdon and a grandson of Tobias Langdon (1683–1712),

Vicar choral A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

. In the summer of 1738, Richard became a

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

at Exeter Cathedral and retained this until spring 1748; by then he had become a secondary. Sub-chanter John Hicks was ordered to teach Richard the organ on 1 December 1744. On 16 June 1753, he was appointed as

of Exeter Cathedral following the death of former organist John Silvester; soon after, on 23 June, was also appointed the cathedral's organist. Langdon's early career was marked without complaints over him or his competence and he taught writing and arithmetic to the choristers. From 1757 to 1769, large sums of money were paid to Richard for subscriptions to volumes of

William Boyce William Boyce may refer to: *William Boyce (composer) (1711–1779), English-born composer and Master of the King's Musick * William Binnington Boyce (1804–1889), English-born philologist and clergyman, active in Australia *William Waters Boyce ( ...

's compositions. The only criticism of Langdon by the cathedral was on 3 March 1759 due to his "frequent" absence and disobedience of the sub-chanter. Soon after on 7 April 1759, he was given permission for five weeks of absence. It is possible that the amount of absence from Langdon was related to his time studying at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He graduated

BMus Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or music school, conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consi ...

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

on 13 July 1761.Past organists: Richard Langdon BMUS 1782–1794
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Armagh, accessed 12 February 2016. Due to failing health, Hicks resigned his position of master of the choristers and Langdon was appointed the position on 8 May 1762 This marked the first time since 1608 (excepting a brief period in 1661) that the position master of the choristers and organist were held by the same person. On 28 August 1770 he married Susanna Evans. Langdon resigned his position and was replaced by

Jackson of Exeter William Jackson (29 May 1730 – 5 July 1803), referred to as Jackson of Exeter, was an English organist and composer. Life Jackson was born and died in Exeter, England, the son of an Exeter grocer, who later became master of the city workhouse. ...

, who said this on the matter "he resigned, for a

pecuniary {{Short pages monitor