As Organist and Master of the Choristers at Carlisle Cathedral for more than 30 years Andrew Seivewright enriched the world of music far beyond the confines of a somewhat remote organ loft. Organist, composer, teacher, lecturer, conductor, adjudicator, examiner and writer, the breadth of his intellect made him an inspirational guide for many generations of young musicians.
A son of the manse, Robert Andrew Seivewright spendt his formative years in the Vale of Belvoir. He was educated at Denstone College before reading Classics at King’s College, Cambridge. After the outbreak of the war he spent four years as an RAF navigator in Canada. In 1948 he returned to Cambridge, not to read Classics but to study music.
Having completed his musical training under the guidance of Robin Orr, Philip Radcliffe and Patrick Hadley, in 1951 he migrated north to Bretton Hall College, near Wakefield. While there, studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, he also honed his organ playing, working closely with Dr Francis Jackson at York Minster. A year later, appointed organist of Rylstone Church and conductor of Skipton Male Voice Choir, his teaching career began at Ermysted’s Grammar School. Moving on to the King’s School Pontefract in 1956, he also became organist of St Giles’ parish church and conductor of Pontefract Choral Society.
In 1960 his talents found a particularly happy and expressive outlet as organist and master of the choristers at Carlisle Cathedral. There, over the next three decades, he directed a small but skilful all-male choir, whose resources he came to use with much imagination and skill. Within a year of his arrival he had given the choir a distinctive sound; both enriched and enhanced their repertoire while, at the same time, radically expanding all aspects of the cathedral’s musical life.
His arrival in Carlisle proved propitious, coming as it did with the welcome opportunity in 1962 to redesign and rebuild the cathedral organ. Originally built by Henry Willis in 1856, the instrument was substantially enlarged with the addition of a fourth manual by Harrison and Harrison in 1907. In consultation with the builders, J. W. Walker, Seivewright tonally remodelled much of the pipework and added a substantial amount of upperwork. It provided a most colourful palette for its new custodian.
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As an organist, Seivewright rejoiced in British organ music of both the 19th and early 20th centuries. As his recordings illustrate, his sense of rhythm was more than matched by a love of colour, all solidly underpinned by a splendidly natural technique. Regularly invited to undertake concert tours of the US, in 1981 he fulfilled a lifelong ambition by driving from Boston to San Francisco, then from Dallas through Florida and up the coast to New York, some 12,000 miles in all, giving 36 recitals en route.
In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, Seivewright also played a pivotal role in the cultural life of the community. He lectured in the extramural departments of Newcastle and Glasgow Universities, was a music critic for the Cumberland News and appeared regularly on Border Television and BBC Radio Cumbria. In 1962 he formed The Abbey Singers, a 36-strong mixed voice choir, carefully honing them into a most formidable ensemble.
Proving equally adept as a composer, his special feel for the liturgy allowed him to write well for voices. Here his motets, carols, anthems, chants, responses and imaginative descants, often written for specific occasions, have retained their place in the repertoire. Sacred works on a more expansive canvas included The Bells of Safari, written for Canon Gervase Markham and the 1971 Morland Choristers’ Festival, and a 1987 setting of the Passion, based on a libretto by a member of the Chapter, Canon Rex Chapman.
Despite the lack of a choir school, Seivewright unfailingly managed to maintain a committed, consistent and extremely loyal choral body. This was never more apparent than in March 1978, when the Queen visited to present the Royal Maundy.
Elected Master of the Music Emeritus on taking his leave of the cathedral in 1991, he served as organist, first at Crosthwaite and later at Grasmere parish church.
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He is survived by his wife, Nora, and twin sons.
Andrew Seivewright, organist and composer, was born on April 22, 1926. He died on December 10, 2010, aged 84