REDISCOVERING RICHARD PURVIS AT 100 James Welch
Richard Purvis at his writing desk, 1993 (Photo by Donna Parker)
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VERY MUSICIAN who heard Richard Purvis play a service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco re-
members the distinctive Purvis “sound.” But how many know that years earlier, Purvis was also in the service, writing music in his head, from foxholes and as a prisoner of war in Stalag 13, the noto- rious Nazi camp that was a model for the TV series Hogan’s Heroes? This is only one of the surprises I encountered while researching the life and work of the legendary “Master of Grace.” Each of the dozens—if not hundreds—of col- leagues, choristers, fans, and friends I interviewed had an outrageous anec- dote, a telling detail, or a pet theory of Purvis, particularly about his rise and fall from Grace during the tempestuous era of Bishop James A. Pike. He was unforgettable. As a southern Californian studying
organ as a teenager, I practically wore out my LP recordings of Purvis’smusic. Described by Ed Stout, Purvis’s closest colleague, as “moviemusic for the Epis- copalChurch,” itpossessedcolor,drama, and registrations that caught my imagi- nation and inspiredmy career as a con- cert organist. ASan Francisco boy with a full schol-
arship to Curtis and big dreams inter- rupted by war, Purvis—like Biggs, Fox, and Schreiner—achieved a level of im- mortality in his own time, both as a per- former and as a composer. I met him briefly and infrequently late in his life, but I’ll never forget the force exerted by his presence and personality. Today,
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I program his music often. But when I searched for more about what made Richard Purvis tick, I couldn’t find a book—like those written by fellow or- ganists about Biggs, Fox, and Schreiner —to help me fill in the gaps in my knowledge of California’s greatest or- ganist-composer. So I decided to write it myself. Now, after years of peripatetic re-
search and personal interviews, I’m closer than I ever hoped to be to the se-
cret of Richard Purvis’s life and his pro- lific music for organ, choir, and voice. One reader of my manuscript—an or- ganist who knew little about Purvis pre- viously—concluded hiscomments back to me with the opinion that Biggs, Fox, Schreiner, and Purvis make up the “Mount Rushmore” of modern Ameri- can organists. Whether or not readers of my book Richard Purvis: Organist of Grace draw the same conclusion, each is certain to change his or her estima- tion of Purvis, whatever it was before. Imperious and demanding? Often. Ge- nial and generous? Frequently. A bril- liant exponent of mid-20th-century American romanticism for the organ overdue for rediscovery? Without ques- tion. Published in time for Purvis’s cen- tenary in 2013, Richard Purvis: Organ- ist of Grace lets readers in on the secret I discovered as Purvis’s first biographer: What forcemade the kid fromSan Fran- cisco the“Master of Grace,” and hismu- sic an inspiration for millions? Formore information on the book and
to order a copy at a discounted price,
visitWelchorganist.com, orCreatespace. com/4051786.
James Welch is organist of Santa Clara Uni- versity in California. He concertizes interna- tionally and has recorded on a variety of or- gans. His articles about other contemporary American organists have appeared in this journal.
At the organ in Casimir Hall, late 1930s (Courtesy of the Curtis Institute)
THE AMERICAN ORGANIST
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