George Robertson Sinclair

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

As a young man, Sinclair was destined for the Anglican 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 of Truro. 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 Festivals between 1891 and 1912, working with leading British musicians of the day, including Edward Elgar, who incorporated into his Enigma Variations a portrait of Sinclair and his bulldog.

Life and career

Early years Sinclair was born in Croydon, the son of Dr R S Sinclair, director of public education in Bombay. The family had Irish connections, and at the age of eight, Sinclair entered the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. The variation also depicts Sinclair's impetuous character and his skilful organ pedalling.

At Hereford, Sinclair was chief conductor of the Three Choirs Festivals 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, and of wholly secular character, such as Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony. In a country still suspicious of Roman Catholicism, Sinclair programmed Verdi's Requiem, and made a considerable success with it in 1900. He, together with Elgar and Stanford 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.