David Patrick Gedge

David Patrick Gedge MBE FRAM^[1] FRSCM^[2] HonFGCM^[3] GRSM FRCO LRAM^[4] (1 March 1939 – 2 July 2016) was an organist based in England and Wales.^[5]

Life

David Gedge was the son of Arthur (Paul) Johnson Gedge 1903–1968 and Gwendoline (Wendy) Middleton 1908–1955.^[6][7][8] Paul Gedge was a parish priest, lastly in Southwark / Lambeth and an author;^[9] a friend of Eric Crozier and the influence to the character Mr. Gedge in Benjamin Britten's opera Albert Herring.^[10][11] On David's mother's side, he was a great-nephew to the organist Hubert Stanley Middleton.^[5][12]

He was a chorister in Southwark Cathedral from 1947 to 1962, and educated in St Olave's Grammar School 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,^[13] and received the Archbishop of Wales 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.

Sexual assault allegation

In 2025, the BBC reported an allegation that the then 62-year-old Gedge had assaulted a 17-year-old female chorister from Brecon on a trip to Ireland. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5zygv9p69o ^[14]

Appointments

• Organist of St. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, London 1957–1962
• Organist of Selby Abbey 1962–1966
• Director of Music at Brecon Cathedral 1966^[15]–2007, where his wife Hazel held the position of Assistant Organist.

Cultural offices
Preceded by Walter Hartley	Organist of Selby Abbey 1962–1966	Succeeded by Mervyn John Byers
Preceded by Michael Bryan Hesford	Organist of Brecon Cathedral 1966–2007	Succeeded by Mark Duthie