Richard Godfrey Seal (4 December 1935 – 19 July 2022) was an English organist and conductor. From 1968 to 1997 he served as organist and master of the choristers at

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

, which in 1991 established a separate girls choir in addition to the existing boys cathedral choir, the first cathedral to do so.

Family and education

Seal was born Banstead,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and was a boy chorister at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, under

Herbert Kennedy Andrews Herbert Kennedy Andrews FRCO (10 August 1904 – 10 October 1965) was a composer and organist based in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and Oxford. Life He was the son of Arthur Macdonald Andrews and Sarah Black, born in Comber, County Down and ed ...

. He continued his education at Cranleigh School in Surrey and was an organ scholar at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

. This was followed by a year's study at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, while also serving as assistant organist at Kingsway Hall. In 1975 he married Dr. Sarah Hamilton, with whom he had two sons.

Career

After completing

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, Seal was briefly assistant organist at St Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield, London (1960–1961), before serving as assistant organist to John Birch at Chichester Cathedral (1961–1968). In 1968 he took up the post of organist and master of the choristers at

, a position which he held until 1997. In 1991 he established a separate girl’s choir in addition to the existing boy’s cathedral choir, the first English cathedral to do so.Steven Morris, "'It was unheard of': first Anglican cathedral girls' choir marks 30 years", ''The Guardian''
6 October 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2022. A controversial move at the time, it led to a transformation in

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

choral singing 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 ...

. The girl and boy choristers usually sing separately. While at Salisbury, Seal made many recordings and broadcasts with the cathedral choir. He was also conductor and president of the Salisbury Orchestral Society from 1969 to 1994.

Awards and later life

In recognition of his distinguished service to English cathedral music Seal was awarded the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music in 1992. Seal retired to Bishopstone, near Salisbury, and continued to play the organ at services in local churches. He died on 19 July 2022 at the age of 86.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seal, Richard 1935 births 2022 deaths English organists British male organists People educated at Cranleigh School English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Assistant Organists of Chichester Cathedral 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century English musicians 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century organists 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians People from Banstead Male classical organists