EULOGY: by Frances Reynolds from Lawyers' Music

SYLVIA – MUSICIAN, LEADER, COMMITTEE MEMBER!

The last time that I had a proper long chat with Sylvia was towards the end of September. I was about to start a new job and she was about to go off to Germany, so we’d got together to see a film. It was a suitably ‘Sylvia’ type film – it had subtitles – of course – and to tick a few more boxes, was set in the Middle East and handled the topic of women’s rights in a poignant, yet not too sentimental, way. Afterwards, over a cup of herbal tea, we had a wide-ranging conversation that inevitably centred in on Lawyers’ Music. As I’ve said, Sylvia was due to go to Germany and was agonising over how to break the news to our new conductor. That was a demonstration of what Lawyers’ Music meant to her. She was worried about – and cared about – in this particular case, the lack of continuity involved in having a temporary leader when she was away, whilst retaining a steely determination to lead the orchestra when she got back. Sadly, this time, she was unable to do so but many, if not all, of us recognise the poignancy of her passing away on the night of our orchestra concert, as we were playing in St James’s Piccadilly, a venue where she - we - had played in so many amazing concerts.

Sylvia was a member of Lawyers’ Music orchestra for 19 years and for 14 of those years she was its leader.

She was a wonderful musician – with an attention to detail and a refusal to gloss over the hard bits. She practised and knew the notes but music came naturally: one of her desk partners recalls playing a piece he had played many times before - Sylvia was sight-reading and played it extremely well. Afterwards, she modestly commented, “Well, it pretty much fell under the fingers…”. She took on tricky solos and played them with aplomb and had the admirable knack of remaining completely calm whilst playing anything. And this calmness had a wonderful effect on those around her: one of our conductors and soloists recalls those particularly nerve wracking moments just before going on the platform, which conductors and soloists share with the leader of the orchestra – he can think of no-one better than Sylvia with whom to have spent those moments.

As leader, she had a gentle but firm manner; a confidence, utter competence; a grace and an ease. Her smile and wit helped her deal superbly with the difficult decisions of who sits where and how to arrange the violin sections. But she paid attention to all sections. There is a fondly remembered customary post-concert exchange of: “Well led, Sylvia!”, to which she would reply, “Well followed, brass!”.

She was incredibly encouraging – generous with praise and with an unerring way of picking out one’s strong points. Another of her desk partners remembers a glow of pride when sensing the subtle shuffle of her shoe after he had played a solo. In addition, he also remembers her writing ‘page from hell’ at the top of a tricky scherzo! Above all, he remembers complete trust and mutual strength in the partnership of sharing a music stand for nearly 6 years. Her section always learnt a lot from Sylvia, whatever they were playing and got a lot more out of the music as a result. She was supportive and positive and believed in you.

And she came to the pub after rehearsals! That’s where many of us non-string players got to know her, initially. She was a great listener and always had an interesting perspective on things. We couldn’t quite persuade her of the benefits of drinking beer – she sadly remained almost uniquely among us, a lager drinker - but to make up for it, her crisp packet origami was second to none.

For it is not just for her musical abilities that we respected and admired her. For more years than she cared to remember, Sylvia was social secretary of Lawyers’ Music, welcoming new members, telling us where to go for post-concert drinks, organising residential weekends. It was her personal involvement with such events that made them a success – someone told me that they only went on the orchestra weekend away because she was going to be there: if Sylvia was up for it, it’d be fun.

Her knowledge of music helped the music committee select repertoire and her being a non-lawyer amongst many, many lawyers gave a fresh outlook to the running and organisation of Lawyers’ Music. On a frustrating day when committee emails were flying backwards and forwards at a rate of knots, on top of the work you were supposed to be doing, it was a breath of fresh air to read one from Sylvia. She really thought about the people and the issues and genuinely sought to resolve them in the best way possible. Her e-mails were superbly worded – measured, considered and diplomatic. Lawyers’ Music is a better organisation because of her.

Sylvia inspired huge affection amongst the members of Lawyers’ Music. She hardly missed a concert in all her 19 years and attended rehearsals and continued to take part in the running of the orchestra when she was not really feeling up to it and long after many of us would have given up. Her loyalty – though tested at times – remained strong.

Music was an important part of Sylvia’s life; and we are very, very privileged to have shared that with her for so many years.