| Richard Seal | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | 1935 |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupations | Organist, Conductor |
Richard Godfrey Seal (born 1935) is an English organist and conductor, who served from 1968-1997 as organist and master of the choristers at Salisbury Cathedral.[1]
Richard Godfrey Seal was born 4 December 1935 in Banstead, Surrey, England. As a child he was a chorister at New College, Oxford. He continued his education at Cranleigh School, Surrey and then became organ scholar at Christ's College, Cambridge. This was followed with a year's study at the Royal College of Music, London. The same year he served as assistant organist at the Kingsway Hall, London. After doing National Service he became assistant organist at St Bartholomew-the-Great Smithfield, London (1960–1961), and then assistant organist to John Birch at Chichester Cathedral, England (1961–1968).
In 1968 he took up the post of organist and master of the choir at Salisbury Cathedral, a position which he held until 1997.[1] While at Salisbury Cathedral he made many recordings and broadcasts with the Salisbury Cathedral choir.[2][3][4] He was conductor of the Salisbury Orchestral Society (and President) from 1969 to 1994.[1] In 1991 Seal founded the first ever English cathedral girls' choir at Salisbury Cathedral. At the time of its recruitment it consisted of 18 singers aged between 8 and 11 years. When singing in the cathedral, the girls' choir is completely independent of the boys' choir.[5] In recognition of his distinguished service to English cathedral music Seal was awarded a Doctor of Music Lambeth degree in 1992.[1]