Paul Lewis

The Unpredictability of Things

October 2022 did not go to plan. The month had been eagerly anticipated but the Fates had ideas of their own.
My wife and I had long been looking forward to hosting the brilliant French harpist Maia Darme for a week of rehearsing and recording a selection of my harp solos, and Alexander Rider, another brilliant harpist friend, was due to join us in a duo I had written for them. They were also scheduled to share the platform in a concert of my music.
However, Alexander was offered a prestigious recital in Paris on the day of our proposed concert, and Maia had an accident and broke a finger. With our plans sabotaged and our recording indefinitely postponed, Sharon my wife went on a three-week storytelling retreat in the Ashdown Forest and I found myself at home, alone and pondering the unpredictability of things.
So here is a piece for harp, one hand, entitled The Unpredictability of Things, for harpists temporarily deprived of the use of a hand. The music moves through a range of emotions, from anger and frustration to pensiveness, sadness and desolation, followed by sarcasm - "So you Fates, you think you can disrupt my life and get away with it do you?" - before a sentimental expression of love for the harp. The work ends in quiet resignation with the acceptance that time alone will heal the injury.
This heartfelt fantasy is dedicated to Maia Darme, in sympathy with whom I too have experienced, in addition to the deepest compassion, the emotions described in the music. Paul Lewis

The piece may be played with either hand, at whatever tempi seem appropriate and comfortable.
Duration about 4 minutes