Harp

Home » Concert Music » Solo and Chamber Works » Harp

I am a composer in love with the harp! My first TV score, written when I was twenty, was scored for flute, oboe, harp and accordion and contained an extensive harp part, and many of my early TV scores featured flute and harp. Latterly the harp has assumed centre stage in my output and I am building an extensive catalogue of solo, chamber and concertante harp works, including the four-movement Concerto Romantico for harp and strings.

In the course of my long career both as a TV/film and concert composer I have worked and recorded with many distinguished harpists, among them Marie Goossens, sister of Sidonie; Jean Bell, legendary Halle Orchestra Principal Harp; Sheila Bromberg of The Beatles "She's Leaving Home" fame; Skaila Kanga, renowned session harpist; Elizabeth Jane Baldry, who discovered Victorian Fairy Harp Music and is the world's only silent movie harpist; Camilla Pay, leading session and concert harpist; Gabriella Dall'Olio, Head of Harp Studies, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and famous international soloist; Alexander Rider, leading recital soloist and musicologist; David Snell, famous jazz session harpist. In addition, Israeli harpist and recording star Rachel Talitman has recorded Concerto Romantico and other works of mine.

My aim in composing for the harp is to allow the instrument to sound as beautiful and as idiomatic as possible, with equal emphasis on mellifluousness of melody, richness of sound, and, where appropriate, sheer entertainment value!

SOME APPRECIATIONS

"Swooping filmic gestures and luscious harp writing fill this music (Concerto Romantico) with rich sentiment in the best sense of the word.....A joyous celebration of the harp in soloistic and chamber settings, and of the highest order." Alexander Rider reviewing Rachel Taltman's CD 'Paul lewis Romantic Music for Harp' in the UKHA magazine, November 2021.

"This record is a journey alternating passion, sensitivity, reveries, the whimsical with sensitive melodies." Carlo Schreiber reviewing Rachel Talitman's CD 'Paul Lewis Romantic Music for Harp' on Crescendo magazine website, October 2021.

"Full of all those things to delight in, real feelings, what makes us human - what music is all about." Veerle Deknopper reviewing Rachel Talitman's 'Paul Lewis Romantic Music for Harp' CD on Culturpakt web page, August 2021.

"Yesterday was a unique emotional experience for me, we recorded the World Premiere of "Concerto Romantico" by the brilliant British composer Paul Lewis, which he dedicated to me. I feel so honored. Thank you so so much for enriching the harp repertoire with such inspiring music." Rachel Talitman, Tel Aviv, 8th June, 2021.

"Altogether a heart-warming, feel-good CD." Sioned Williams reviewing Harpscenes CD in the UKHA magazine, November 2020.

"If you want harp music that is idiomatic, tuneful and lyrical then this is the disc for you." Gary Higgins reviewing Harpscenes CD for British Music Society CD reviews, November 2020.

"Paul Lewis' prolific output for the harp is fed by a passionate adoration of the instrument....This often luscious oeuvre has found an ideal interpreter in Dall'Olio........A delicious collection of truly lovely music, lovingly played." Alexander Rider reviewing Harpscape CD in the UKHA magazine, autumn 2018.

Of Paul Lewis's harp solos: "Beautiful, lyrical and sometimes nostalgic pieces, stepping back in time to showcase the harp at its stylish best." Gabriella Dall'Olio, international soloist and Head of Harp Studies and Harp Chamber Music, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London.

Of Saturday Night Jazz Suite: "Fun, enjoyable and entertaining: the perfect music to brighten your mood, and the mood of your audience!" Gabriella Dall'Olio, London.

"Paul's compositions for the harp are well written, full of charm and they are never obvious. It is a new way of playing and listening to the harp!" Alessandra Ziveri, Italy.

"I've been playing your music and enjoying myself immensely. I like your humour and fantasy." Gloria Joyce Burt, Sweden.

CD RECORDINGS

ROMANTIC MUSIC FOR HARP - PAUL LEWIS Songs of Israel, Memories of Amboise, Concerto Romantico. Rachel Talitman with the Israel Strings Ensemble, cond. Doron Salomon. Harp & Company CD 5050-46.

HARPSCAPE Four solo suites performed by Gabriella Dall'Olio: Postcards from Paris, Decospherics (Four Jazz Age Dances,) Musings on a Maori Lullaby, Saturday Night Jazz Suite. EM Records EMR CD048.

HARPSCENES A selection of suites and solo pieces performed by Camilla Pay, Fiona Hosford and Alexander Rider.

CREPUSCULE British works for flute, viola and harp, including Paul's joyful, French-inspired three-movement Divertimento, performed by the Aurora Trio. EMR CD069.

SHEET MUSIC & PDF FILES
Click on the titles below to read about them on the publishers' websites, and in the case of Goodmusic publications see the score and hear a computer-generated performance, though you listen at your peril: computers cannot play with feeling or do rubato, bisbigliando, harmonics or chordal glissandi!

Most works are available as printed copies or pdf files.

SOLO HARP
Saturday Night Jazz Suite Associated Boards & Trinity/Guildhall Exam Syllabuses
Valses   formerly Trinity/Guildhall Exam Syllabus
Musings on a Maori Lullaby - Variations on Hine e Hine
Two for Fi
Two Soliloquies
Slavic Dances
Tintinnabulations
Jane Austen Suite
Lullaby and Music Box Waltz
Cradle Song and Music Box Polka
Ballade Romantique
Postcards from Paris
Postcards from Bologna
Decospherics - Four Jazz Age Dances
Two Laments
Four Anticke Dances
Girl with Harp and Roses
Hope
Adieu Michel
Improvisations on "The Ash Grove"
Paris Parapluie
Suite Jazzeresque
Two Soliloquies
Cantilena (Theme from Concerto Romantico)
Valse Lente

TWO HARPS
Aubade
Trois Preludes
Adieu Michel

HARP QUARTET or ENSEMBLE
Adieu Michel

LEVER HARP SOLO
Sonatina
Rye Rambles

LEVER HARP BOOKS (nine pieces in each)
Echoes of Olden Times
Contemplation and Comedy
Jazz-n-Jive
Celtic Dreams
Melodic Moments

FLUTE & HARP
Pink and White Terraces
Two Waltzes
Norfolk Idyll
Impromptu
Serenata
Rhapsody on Scarborough Fair
Perfume Notes
Whatlington Waltzes

FLUTE, VIOLA & HARP
Divertimento
Two Soliloquies

BASSOON & HARP
Two Portraits

VIOLIN & HARP
Impromptu
Serenata
Reluctant Heroines
Perfume Notes
Whatlington Waltzes

VIOLIN, VIOLA & HARP
Two Soliloquies

VIOLIN, CELLO & HARP
Trio Romantico

CELLO & HARP
Two Portraits

HARP & STRING QUARTET
Girl with Harp and Roses

HARP & STRING QUINTET (quartet + bass)
Songs of Israel

GUITAR & HARP
Trois Preludes

HARMONICA & HARP
Impromptu
Serenata

THEREMIN & HARP
Whatlington Waltzes

VOICE & HARP
Perfume Notes - three arias for soprano vocalise
Adieu Michel

CHOIR & HARP
Child's Carol - 2-part or two solo upper voices
Four Antique Dances

CONCERTANTE WORKS
Concerto Romantico harp & strings
Norfolk Concerto flute, harp & strings
Devonshire Dances harp & small orchestra
Rye Festival Suite string orchestra & harp