Lawrence Kenneth Moss

1927 - 2022

MOSS

LAWRENCE KENNETH MOSS "Larry"

Lawrence Kenneth "Larry" Moss passed peacefully on June 24, 2022 at the age of 94 and a half. It was a beautiful death, that closed a beautiful life.

He lived and loved fully, and with such attention to the flow and meaning of life from the quotidian to the sublime, with grace and humor… The morning of his last day he said, "I think I'll have ice cream for breakfast."

He was born in Los Angeles, California on November 18, 1927 to Sadye (Jacobs) and Oscar Moss, joining his older brother Conrad (b. 1923, d. 1969).

His early years were devoted to music and chemistry. But after a few explosions he dedicated himself to music, studying at Pomona, UCLA, and Eastman School of Music, where received his MA. He then served in Army Intelligence overseas before returning to the University of Southern California to complete his PHD.

He taught music composition at Mills College in California, and after a whirlwind courtship, married Graydon Hindley in 1958. He then received the first of his two Guggenheim Fellowships, which allowed the young couple to spend a year living in Italy and traveling through Europe. When they returned to the US they started a family: Pamela (b. 1961) Claramarie "Coowe" (b. 1963) and twins Ruth and Jonathan (b. 1965).

He was an Associate Professor at Yale from 1960 to 1967. The family returned to Italy for a year in Rome in 1964 (the second Guggenheim), and then a sabbatical year in Florence in 1968. In 1969 he was lured away to the University of Maryland, where he spent the rest of his long career of composing and teaching. The children grew up in Maryland except for 1976, the US Bicentennial, when the family lived in the Cotswolds of England.

A deep love of California led the family out West every summer to visit the beaches and redwoods and extended family (grandmas, five aunts, four uncles, and dozens of cousins). Back East, every Thanksgiving and Christmas culminated in music with friends playing duets on the piano. Larry loved nature, and particularly loved a nearby creek and woods where he jogged (later walked) three times a week up into his early 90's.

Family was very important to him. He really loved his four children, and encouraged them to follow their dreams; he was proud of each of them and delighted in their uniqueness.

Once the children grew up, he and Graydon always traveled together, to Europe and increasingly to China, which they visited four times. He was invited to teach masterclasses in Taiwan and in various schools on mainland China. He received a Honorary Professor of Composition from the Tianjin Music Conservatory in China. He was an excellent linguist, fluent in Mandarin as well as German, French, and Italian. He could also get by in Latin and Spanish.

In 2014 he was appointed Professor Emeritus in Music Composition and received a Distinguished Scholar/Teacher Award from the University of Maryland. He received a Fulbright Scholarship, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and numerous commissions from the Forman Commission, the Chamber Music Society of Baltimore, the National Foundation of the Arts (several awards) and Warsaw Autumn, among others.

He was an active composer up until the week before he died, when he told his eldest daughter, "I've written my last piece." His latest recordings had just been finished to his satisfaction, and he knew they were being prepared for release by Parma, his publisher. He felt his body of work was complete.

He was a tai chi artist, to his astonishment winning a bronze medal in a New York City competition in his 70s. He was also a cross country skier as well as back-backer (with his wife) and loved body surfing and swimming. He was a longtime member of the Rockville Chorus, and a proud lifetime member of The Sierra Club. A true intellectual, he was deeply versed in literature and history and loved talking about them.

He was preceded in death by son-in-law Russ Walker (d. 2021) and grandson Kipp Walker (d. 2010), and is survived by his wife, Graydon; daughter Pamela Moss (Mark Cantales) (Brian Hall); daughter Claramarie 'Coowe' Walker (Russ Walker); daughter Ruth Moss (Robert Gherman); son Jonathan 'Jon' Moss (Sadie Moss-Jones); grandchildren Madeleine Moss, Cora Moss, Aislinn Moss (Jack), Jonathan 'Jonny' Gherman, Lauren Gherman, Liza Walker, Sammy Walker, Daisy Walker, Parker Moss, Graydon Rose Moss; and devoted nieces and nephews Diane Moss, John Moss, Lynn Jacobs, Diane Jacobs, and Georgeanne Wood.

There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, October 22, 2022.