Kenneth Shenton writes:
AS ORGANIST and Master of the Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral for more than three decades, Dr Richard Seal gave ecclesiastical music a lifetime of devoted service. Not only was this musician of quiet authority able to enhance the outstanding tradition placed in his hands, but he proceeded to revolutionise it beyond measure. In 1990, amid the cathedral’s 900th-anniversary celebrations, Seal found himself making headlines both nationally and internationally. His announcement that choristerships would now be granted to girls also, giving them equal status to boys, was seen by some as common sense; to others, it was the epitome of political correctness.
Born in Banstead, Surrey, on 4 December 1935, Richard Godfrey Seal began his musical career in 1945 as a chorister at New College, Oxford. Five years later, he won a music scholarship to Cranleigh School, before becoming organ scholar at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists in 1958, he undertook further studies at the Royal College of Music. In London, he first served as assistant organist at the Kingsway Hall, and later spent 12 months at St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield.
After National Service spent in Malaya, in 1961, he moved to Chichester Cathedral as Assistant Organist, also becoming Director of Music at the Prebendal School.
Among those having an influential input into Seal’s musical education were his former choirmaster, H. K. Andrews, the Bach scholar Paul Steinitz, the organist Donald Cashmore, and, during Seal’s seven years at Chichester Cathedral, its Master of the Music, John Birch. Birch found in Seal a highly efficient assistant, capable of grasping the helm with a degree of authority, while taking all aspects of the post seriously. Seal, also, was unable to bear the thought of committing an imperfect performance to disc.
Such perfectionist ideals moved with him when, in 1968, he succeeded Christopher Dearnley as Organist and Master of the Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral. He displayed an almost monastic devotion to the Daily Offices, and there were few places where the psalms were sung with such consummate skill and sensitivity. They were invariably well-paced; blend, intonation and clarity were unfailingly exemplary.
Seal maintained a committed, consistent, and loyal choral body throughout his long tenure. This was never more apparent than in 1974, when the Queen presented the Royal Maundy, and during three-week recital tour of America 15 years later. Though it operated separately, he made sure that the girls’ choir was seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the cathedral’s ministry.
As an organist, Seal had an unusually sensitive musicality, an excellent memory, and an enquiring mind. These allowed him to explore the whole range of repertoire. As a consequence, his playing was more than ordinarily informed and always interesting. Custodian of the cathedral’s historic but increasingly unreliable 1876 Father Willis instrument, Seal oversaw a major overhaul in 1969, as the manual soundboards and some chests were rebuilt. The 1934 electric swell pedals were also updated, and the pipework was thoroughly cleaned.
Further work took place in 1978, when the console and electro-mechanical actions were modernised. New stop jambs and a music desk were installed as the choir and pedal stops exchanged places.
Seal was often in demand for conducting engagements worldwide, making a great contribution to many cultural activities in the wider community. In co-operation with the cathedrals of Chichester and Winchester, his input proved pivotal to the highly successful development of the Southern Cathedrals Festival. He conducted both the Salisbury Musical Society and the Salisbury Orchestral Society, and chaired by the Royal School of Church Music’s Wessex area committee and the Salisbury and District Organists’ Association. Other organisations that he served with no less distinction included the Salisbury Festival and the Salisbury Diocesan Church Music Committee.
He was a longstanding member of the Council of the Royal College of Organists, and President of the Incorporated Association of Organists. In 1992, he was awarded a Lambeth doctorate by the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, for his services to music.
In 1995, Salisbury Cathedral provided a backdrop for the BBC dramatisation of Joanna Trollope’s The Choir. Seal and his choristers became the subject of a documentary programme, Heavenly Voices, part of the Everyman series. Two years later, after 29 years at Salisbury Cathedral, Seal took his leave. Moving to the neighbouring village of Bishopstone, he led an active retirement, regularly playing the organ for Sunday services throughout the locality.
Dr Richard Seal died on 19 July, aged 86. He is survived by his wife, Dr Sarah Hamilton, and their two sons. Choral evensong at Salisbury Cathedral tomorrow, 1 October, will include a thanksgiving for his life.
