His father, an amateur cellist and pianist, began his musical education, and from the age of 19 he took private lessons from Joseph Holbrooke (only five years his senior), also studying in Germany, France and Austria.
[1] Unable to sustain himself financially as a composer, Laurence joined the music publishers Goodwin & Tabb, and through them became the librarian of the BBC Proms under Sir Henry Wood.
[7] Other orchestral works, including The Dream Harlequin, Milandor and A Miracle, were performed at Royal College of Music Patron's Fund rehearsals.
After this, however, Laurence returned to composing concert music, missing out on the lucrative opportunity that synchronised sound film opened up just three years later.
Instead much of his time was taken up by orchestral management and music libraries, most notably from 1932 for Sir Thomas Beecham and the embryonic London Philharmonic Orchestra.