David Patrick Gedge MBE FRAM FRSCM HonFGCM GRSM FRCO LRAM (1 March 1939 – 2 July 2016) was an organist based in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Life

David Gedge was the son of Arthur (Paul) Johnson Gedge 1903–1968 and Gwendoline (Wendy) Middleton 1908–1955. Paul Gedge was a parish priest, lastly in Southwark / Lambeth and an author; a friend of

Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatre director, theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Ro ...

and the influence to the character Mr. Gedge in Benjamin Britten's opera

Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera '' The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Cro ...

. On David's mother's side, he was a great-nephew to the organist Hubert Stanley Middleton. He was a chorister in

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark, London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge. It is the mother c ...

from 1947 to 1962, and educated in

St Olave's Grammar School St. Olave's Grammar School (formally St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Church of England Grammar School) ( or ) is a grammar school, selective secondary school for boys in Orpington, Greater London, England. Founded by royal charter in 1571, the sch ...

in London, the Royal Academy of Music, and the University of London. He was awarded the Turpin Prize in 1962 when he achieved his FRCO. He was made a MBE in 1993, and received the

Archbishop of Wales The post of Archbishop of Wales () was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came ...

award for church music in 1997. From 1966 to 2007, David Gedge was the organist and choirmaster at Brecon Cathedral. Gedge wrote two volumes of memoirs, ''A Country Cathedral Organist Looks Back (2005)'' and ''More From a Country Cathedral Organist (2008)''. Both autobiographies were self-published and received mixed reviews. He died on 2 July 2016.

Appointments

*Organist of St. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, London 1957–1962 *Organist of

Selby Abbey Selby is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town w ...

1962–1966 *Director of Music at

Brecon Cathedral Brecon Cathedral (), in the town of Brecon, Powys, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and seat of the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Previously the church of Brecon Priory and then the Parish Church of S ...

1966International Who's Who in Music and Musicians Directory. David Cummings. 2000–2007, where his wife Hazel held the position of Assistant Organist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gedge, David Patrick 1939 births 2016 deaths Alumni of the University of London British cathedral organists English organists English composers English autobiographers Fellows of the Royal College of Organists Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at St Olave's Grammar School 20th-century British organists 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British organists 21st-century British male musicians British male classical organists