George Robertson Sinclair (28 October 1863 – 7 February 1917) was an English cathedral organist, who served at

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

and

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

cathedrals. As a young man, Sinclair was destined for the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priesthood, but in 1880 his father died and Sinclair needed to earn a living immediately. He became the first cathedral organist of the new

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. He moved from Truro to become organist of Hereford Cathedral in 1889, where he remained for the rest of his life. At Hereford, Sinclair was conductor of eight

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester) and originally fe ...

s between 1891 and 1912, working with leading British musicians of the day, including

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, who incorporated into his ''

Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...

'' a portrait of Sinclair and his bulldog.

Life and career

Early years

Sinclair was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, the son of Dr R S Sinclair, director of public education in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

."Dr. G. R. Sinclair, Conductor of the Hereford Musical Festival"
''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', Vol. 41, No. 692 (October 1900), pp. 661–662 The family had Irish connections, and at the age of eight, Sinclair entered the

Royal Irish Academy of Music Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roy ...

in Dublin. In 1873, aged ten, he gained a choral scholarship at

St Michael's College, Tenbury St Michael's College (the College of St Michael and All Angels) at Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, England, was founded by Frederick Ouseley, Sir Frederick Ouseley in 1856 as a boys' Preparatory school (United Kingdom), preparatory school. Ousele ...

, under the headship of Sir Frederick Ouseley. He remained there for six years, singing in the choir at the daily services and deputising as organist. 1879 Sinclair became assistant organist to

Charles Harford Lloyd Charles Harford Lloyd (Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, Thornbury, 16 October 1849 – Eton, Berkshire, Eton, 16 October 1919)Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...

and parish organist of St Mary-de-Crypt,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. It had been expected that he would become an

priest, but when he was seventeen his father died, and Sinclair was obliged to earn an income at once. In 1880,

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previousl ...

, first

Bishop of Truro The bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown De ...

, asked Ouseley for advice on a suitable organist for the new

Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. His ...

. Ouseley recommended Sinclair, who was appointed, aged 17. He designed a high-specification four-manual organ built by

Father Willis Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in busin ...

, and assembled and trained a choir.

Hereford and the Three Choirs Festival

In 1889,

Langdon Colborne Langdon Colbourne (15 September 1835 – 16 September 1889) was an English cathedral organist, who served at Hereford Cathedral. Background Colbourne was born in Hackney, London, the son of Thomas Colborne and Elizabeth Hobson.''Cambridge Univ ...

, organist of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

died, and Sinclair was appointed to succeed him. In a profile of him in ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'' in October 1900, the anonymous author wrote: In 1900 Sinclair was appointed conductor of the Birmingham Festival Choral Society, one of whose members drew a caricature of Sinclair and his bulldog Dan, from whom he was inseparable, and who attended all rehearsals. Sinclair's friend

depicted Dan in the ''

''. The eleventh variation, in G minor, ''Allegro di molto'' headed "G.R.S." portrays Dan falling into the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

and, in Elgar's words, "paddling upstream to find a landing place; and his rejoicing bark on landing. G.R.S. said, 'Set that to music'. I did; here it is."Golding, Robin (1986). Liner notes to EMI CD CDM 7 64015 2, OCLC 407025089 The variation also depicts Sinclair's impetuous character and his skilful organ pedalling. Fuller Maitland, J A and Christopher Kent
"Sinclair, George Robertson"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 30 October 2011 At Hereford, Sinclair was chief conductor of the

s of 1891, 1894, 1897, 1900, 1903, 1906, 1909 and 1912. He modernised the repertoire of the festivals, introducing music of peripheral religious relevance, including ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

'',"Mr G. R. Sinclair", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 9 February 1917, p. 9 and of wholly secular character, such as

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's '' Pathétique'' Symphony."The Hereford Musical Festival"
''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', Vol. 41, No. 692 (October 1900), pp. 657–661 In a country still suspicious of

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Sinclair programmed

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

, and made a considerable success with it in 1900. He, together with Elgar and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and the soloists, sent a telegram to the aged composer reporting "una recita splendida del Requiem Festival di Hereford". Sinclair died suddenly in Birmingham, aged 53, after conducting a rehearsal.

Dedications and memorials

Sinclair was also the dedicatee of Elgar's ''Te Deum and Benedictus'' (1897), "Pomp and Circumstance March" No.4 (1907) and ''A Christmas Greeting'' (1907). A biographical tablet was erected to his memory in Hereford Cathedral in 1920.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, George English classical organists English cathedral organists 1863 births 1917 deaths People from Croydon 19th-century English musicians 19th-century English male musicians 19th-century British classical musicians English male classical organists