An inevitable consequence of a long career as a professional composer is a bottom drawer (and in my case several boxes) full of works begun and never finished and others finished but forgotten. Sifting through these recently I came upon sketches for an autobiographical suite begun in 1973 when I was renting a basement flat beneath a Greek greengrocer's in the Fitzrovia district of Central London to work as musical adviser and sometime composer on the 26-part TV series Orson Welles Great Mysteries while simultaneously scoring Spring and Autumn, a popular TV comedy series. Seeing the music again after 47 years has brought back vivid memories of my 30 year-old self coping with an unusually frenetic year workwise and personally. With much revising and refurbishing, the pieces have been transformed into this jazzy little suite for harpist Maia Darme.
Charlotte Street A charming lane lined with 18th century houses, restaurants and the Fitzroy Tavern, famous haunt of artists, intellectuals and writers.
Fitzrovia Romance A composer in amorous mood. Fitzrovia was known from the 19th century onwards for the dubious morals and bohemian lifestyle of its inhabitants, notably the infamous Bloomsbury set in the 1920s. In retrospect it seems that in my own modest way I may have inadvertently contributed to the local tradition of louche living, dallying there with a Russian artist, an American ballet dancer and a children's nanny from Kensington. Which one inspired this melody I cannot remember!
Cleveland Street The location of my flat, a long street lined with Georgian and Victorian buildings and cosmopolitan cafes beneath the gaze of the iconic Post Office Tower with its sky-high revolving restaurant. It was in this and neighbouring streets that I walked my dog every morning before the daily round of rehearsal rooms and recording studios. Paul Lewis
Duration 10 minutes
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