On April 17th, 1999, a large group gathered in Boston's Trinity Church in Copley Square for a memorial service celebrating the life and accomplishments of Lawrence I. Phelps, the distinguished American organbuilder who died on February 22nd of this year. Present there were family, friends, professional colleagues, and organists who came to stand with Larry's widow, Gillian Weir, to honor the work and influence of this special man.
Lawrence Phelps began his musical life especially interested in conducting and studied at the New England Conservatory. Charmed by the wonder of the pipe organ after he left that institution, he apprenticed under G. Donald Harrison and worked later with Walter Holtkamp, Sr., before establishing his own career. He was responsible for the design and execution of the Æolian-Skinner organ at the Mother Church Extension (the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston); the artistic direction and later presidency of Casavant Frères; and ultimately the establishment of his own firm, Lawrence Phelps and Associates in Erie. Following the close of that firm, he accepted a position with the Allen Company, where his long interest in digital tone production stood him in good stead in the design of custom non-pipe instruments. Following his retirement from Allen, he returned to Boston to superintend the refurbishment of the Mother Church organ.
But it was with the traditional pipe organ that Phelps' greatest musical interest lay, and where his voice was heard most influentially. He was a champion of the highest order of organbuilding technique, and sought in his own especial way to conceive, design and have built organs which were timeless in their musical personalities and capable of playing a large body of the literature with both stylistic authenticity and musical grace. To that end, he developed a firm belief that mechanical action, enhanced by modern registrational aids, was the way to best achieve his goals, and his later organs reflected that belief. He surrounded himself with a staff who shared his vision, offered both unstinting support and honest criticism. Together they forged a path which produced instruments which were neither slavish copies of what had gone before, nor were so avant-garde as to be unapproachable by their players. While he was a stickler for the finest details of mechanical and tonal work, he maintained always that these techniques were but a means to one end--the making of music of the highest order. "We are NOT in the organ business," he would say, "we are in the Music Business. We just happen to make organs." Equally firm was his belief that the excellence of an organ was a partnership between builder and client and room. Again one of his great maxims was "You cannot BUY a good organ. It is a prize you win for making all the right decisions!"
The memorial service began with a short recital of works by Mendelssohn, Elgar, J.S. Bach, and Frank Bridges' "E Major Adagio," eloquently played by Edwin Starner, the organist of the Mother Church in Boston. The officiant, The Reverend Ann W. Stevenson, set the tone of triumph in her moving reading of collects and Gospel; and Gillian Weir read a Lesson from Philippians with that same moving elegance which typifies her playing. Mr. Starner read passages which speak to the divinity of music from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church which was Lawrence Phelps' denominational affiliation.
The choir of Trinity Church was heard in a number of works which were all of the genre dear to Larry: the Bach "Liebster Jesu" as Introit; Brahms' "How Lovely" from the Deutsches Requiem; Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" from the Solemn Vespers K.339; and Wesley's "Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace" as anthems; and in final farewell the ethereal "In Paradisum" from the Fauré Requiem. This was fine singing, most splendidly led by choirmaster Brian Jones and sensitively accompanied by his associate H. Ross Wood.
Anthony Rollett, a former member of the Phelps staff at Erie, read tributes and reminiscences from Larry's old associates; and Larry's nephew Wayne Braverman painted an enthusiastic picture of a loving and caring family member who brought both joy and pride to his parents, siblings, and relatives; as well as honor and devotion to his wife which was equaled only by his honor and devotion to their common Muse.
Three congregational hymns--"When in our music God is glorified" (from the Episcopal Hymnal), "Happy the man" (A Christian Science Hymn), and "Angel voices ever singing" (Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised)--were joyously sung by those gathered, with the choir and organ rising to lofty heights in the "Angel voices." The service closed with the playing of Bach's 'St. Anne' Prelude by James David Christie.
For me, in addition to the privilege of joining in the tribute to this my singular teacher and friend, there was the rare joy of being close, even for a brief time, to our dear friend Gillian Weir, whose charm and good humor had so often enraptured us at Lawrence Phelps and Associates in those times when her busy schedule permitted her to 'come home' and relax amidst us. But equally, it was the gathering in those pews, after nearly twenty years, of the principals of Larry's firm in Erie--Claudette (nee) Bedard, his secretary; Clive Webster, his technical director; David Young, his assistant and voicing partner; Anthony Rollett and Burton Tidwell, who both had come to learn from Larry and who contributed so much in return; and myself, his general manager and later draughtsman--which added a significance and a closure to the era which to us Larry's life and time represent. We are a scattered lot, having gone our separate ways and to our various callings; but each carrying along the remarkable influence, loving support, and demanding expectations which we received from 'our boss' and our friend!
I would close by quoting a verse from "Angel voices" written by F. Pott, which we sang to E.G. Monk's memorable tune:
Yea, we know that thou rejoicest
O'er each work of thine;
Thou didst ears and hands and voices
For thy praise design.
Craftsman's art and music's measure
For thy pleasure
All combine.
Walter Holtkamp, Jr., quietly said to me at the reception following the service: "Larry was quite a fellow." I cannot improve on that.
