John Lewis | |
|---|---|
 Lewis in 1974 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Reginald John Lewis |
| Born | 26 July 1944 Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Died | 3 February 1985 Ham Green Hospital, Bristol, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument(s) | Piano, Organ, Synthesiser |
| Years active | 1969 - 1984 |
| Labels | Polydor |
Reginald 'John' Lewis was a Canadian-born British electronic music and experimental composer and musician who worked on multiple projects during the 1970s and 1980s.
John was born in the town of Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada, on the 26th July 1944. [1] He was the youngest of two boys, with his brother David five years his senior - born to parents David Reginald Lewis and Minnie Anne Bigg. John studied for a bachelor in Fine Art - Music at St. Stephens College at the University of Alberta in the mid-1960s. [2] During this time, John became the prize composition student of associate professor Violet Archer, a renowned Canadian composer. [1]
In 1964 John was awarded the university 'Eva Shaw Memorial Prize in Music' for being a student of "outstanding merit". During his time at university, John was playing the organ on the CKUA radio station in regular slots before becoming a music commentator for the station.
In November 1966 John put forward an application that was endorsed by the university and put before the committee for one of the world's most prestigious scholarships - Rhodes. The scholarship was so prestigious that to be endorsed by the university an applicant was not only required to possess a bachelor's degree but also demonstrate “outstanding academic achievement”. John found himself competing with two of his peers: bachelor of commerce student Donald H. Clogg, and Kenneth C. McKenzie, who held an honours bachelor's degree in geography. [1] A committee of seven headed by Justice Kane, a former Rhodes scholar himself, and judge at the Alberta Supreme Court awarded the scholarship to Mr. McKenzie on 21 November 1966. [1]
John gained his Bachelor of Music, announced in the Edmonton Journal on 23 May 1967. [1] He continued to broadcast on CKUA Radio as a Music Commentator in his regular slots and remained the music director at the Highlands United Church, a position he had held since 1966. He spent the academic year 1967-68 in Winnipeg studying organ and harpsichord with Douglas Bodle at the University of Manitoba, and composition with Bernard Naylor.
John's Parents Reg & Minnie placed an announcement in their local newspaper, the Brooks Bulletin on 25 April 1968. [1] In it, they congratulate John on winning a British Commonwealth Scholarship to “continue his music studies in London, England”. Before heading to London John played in various concerts in association with the University of Alberta and an organ recital at St. Joseph's Cathedral on 1 August 1968. [1] John is listed in the British Commonwealth Scholarship directory, and most likely arrived in London mid-late August 1968 to begin his scholarship in September of the same year.
John took up his scholarship at the University of London under the guidance of musicologist Thurston Dart. [He may have also studied at the South Kensington Institute.] In the Daily Telegraph of 10 November 1969, he is credited with composing music for the performance of “Alternations” by New York dancer Gregg Mayher. [1] Mayher was an ‘American Modern Dance’ teacher at South Kensington Institute [ Imperial College] and the Dance Centre, which was located at 12 Floral Street, Covent Garden. John would return to composing for modern dance in a few years, when commissioned by Ballet Rambert.
After taking up his scholarship in London in 1968 John then went to Rome, Italy to study 'advanced music composition' under German Composer Hans Werner Henze. [1]
By April 1973 John was back in London having composed music for a ballet performance titled 'Red-shift', directed by dancer Carolyn Carlson. John was first commissioned by Ballet Rambert in1973 to write the score of 'Isolde,' choreographed by Norman Morrice. The work had its premiere at Sadler's Wells Theatre on 27 September 1973. [1] John was also credited as the Assistant Music Director when the company toured the United Kingdom. 'Isolde' was widely reported and reviewed in the press before its last performance on 13 October 1973 [1] at the Sunderland Empire. John's original score, in his own hand is stored in the Rambert Archive.
John remained with Ballet Rambert and was commissioned the following year to compose the score for ‘Spindrift’, again choreographed by Norman Morrice, which premiered at the Camden Roundhouse on 17 April 1974. [1] John not only wrote the score, but he also toured with the company as Assistant Musical Director and pianist in performances up and down the UK. In the absence of John, the accomplished Carlos Miranda occasionally assumed this role. 'Spindrift' was last performed at the Theatre Y Werin on 3 May 1975. [1] Sadly, the score is not held in the Rambert Archives.
In 1972 a 32-year-old Brian Hodgson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop founded ‘Electrophon Music Ltd’ after withdrawing his pension and leaving the BBC. In a corner of a warehouse full of industry creatives at 8-10 Neal's Yard, Covent Garden Hodgson was joined by Radiophonic colleague Delia Derbyshire, who soon after setting up the studio left London for the North of England.
Brian Hodgson, also commissioned by Ballet Rambert to compose music, had on occasion bumped into John Lewis at the Rambert rehearsal rooms and studio as well as at social events for industry creatives. Sometime in early 1974, John, interested in buying a synthesiser, stopped by the Electrophon studio in the hope that Brian would guide him with his purchase. The pair took the short walk to Tottenham Court Road, stopping at music shops down the likes of Denmark Street - Britain's ‘Tin Pan Alley’, which by the 80s was littered with music shops, some still trading today. However, it was the lack of knowledge about synthesisers by the music shop owners that led Brian to suggest John partner with him at Electrophon.
Brian Hodgson and John Lewis under the name "Wavemaker", released albums of melodic synthesiser music titled Where Are We Captain?... (1975) and New Atlantis (1977). [3] In December 1977, Hodgson, upon invitation returned to the Radiophonic Workshop and left the Electrophon studio in Lewis' hands. [4]
As Hodgson, and the entire Workshop, was heavily involved in creating Doctor Who sound effects and music, Hodgson was asked if he knew any outside composers. Hodgson suggested outsourcing some of the work to Lewis, who began recording the original incidental music for the serial The Mark of the Rani , broadcast in 1985. However, Lewis was already suffering from AIDS in an advanced stage, and managed to complete only the score for the first episode before becoming too ill to continue. He died soon afterwards, and the score was finished by Jonathan Gibbs. [7] [4] Lewis' score for the first episode was included on the DVD release.
John made no secret of his sexuality, but he was not known to make it obvious that he was a gay man. He always lived in and around the Kensington and Chelsea borough of London and rented a flat on Elsham Road, near Earls Court before purchasing the flat above the one he rented. He was a keen swimmer and regularly worked out at the fitness centres. He was handsome, well-groomed and in good shape.
John was noted for wearing a bunch of keys on his belt loop, often used as a code along with the handkerchief for homosexual preference, and John is seen wearing his keys on his left hand side in an appearance on Top of the Pops for Pop Muzik.
One day in the Electrophon studio Lewis shared concern with Hodgson about a rash that had appeared on his arms from his wrists to his elbows. [1] It later became known that this was a sign of seroconversion of HIV. Close friends of Lewis started to see, as he himself had noticed, that he was increasingly unable to fight off or was taking longer to fight off common infections such as cold and flu.
Around mid-1984 Lewis was admitted to London's Middlesex Hospital with what was diagnosed as a form of pneumonia. Additional tests after admission revealed an HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Hodgson and friends visited John in hospital and upon his discharge all agreed to relocate the studio from Covent Garden to a small cottage in Bristol. While John and his friends hoped for a treatment or cure, they felt the fresh country air would do him good. Hodgson recalled that naturally, electronic equipment gathers dust by static so they cleaned the studio equipment before sending it off to the cottage in Midford, Bristol.
Within a matter of weeks, John fell ill and was admitted to the isolation hospital, Ham Green near Bristol. John's father having passed in 1976, [1] his mother Minnie made the journey from Edmonton, Canada to be by her son's side. John spent Christmas 1984 in a room on the isolation ward, known as T-Ward with two other men who were also suffering from AIDS and AIDS-related complications. The rooms were separated by a wall with a window.
John Lewis passed away on 3 February 1985 at Ham Green Hospital, near Bristol. His cause of death was (1a) a Pulmonary Embolism, (1b) Cryptococcal meningitis (an AIDS-related meningitis), and (2) HTLV-3 virus infection (now known as HIV/AIDS). [1]
He was cremated at Haycombe Crematorium, Bath on 12 February 1985 in an intimate service and his ashes were interred in the garden of remembrance.
Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups.
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electronic music and music technology, as well as its popular scores for programmes such as Doctor Who and Quatermass and the Pit during the 1950s and 1960s.
Delia Ann Derbyshire was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme music to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. She has been referred to as "the unsung heroine of British electronic music", having influenced musicians including Aphex Twin, the Chemical Brothers and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital.
Electronic Music Studios (EMS) is a synthesizer company formed in Putney, London in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff, Tristram Cary and David Cockerell. It is now based in Ladock, Cornwall.
Max Richter is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and studied with Luciano Berio in Italy.
Howard Lindsay Goodall is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was named as a presenter and "Composer-in-Residence" with the UK radio channel Classic FM. In May 2009, he was named "Composer of the Year" at the Classic BRIT Awards.
M is an English new wave and synth-pop music project that formed in 1978 in London, England by Robin Scott. M is most known for the 1979 hit "Pop Muzik", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in May 1979, and number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on 3 November 1979. Musicians who contributed to M at one time or another included Wally Badarou, Mark King, Phil Gould and Gary Barnacle of Level 42.
The Doctor Who theme music is a piece of music written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was the first electronic music signature tune for television. It is used as the theme for the science fiction programme Doctor Who, and has been adapted and covered many times.
Brian Hodgson is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction programme Doctor Who. He devised the sound of the TARDIS and the voices of the Daleks, which he created by distorting the actors' voices and feeding them through a ring modulator. he also effectively scored four serials under the credit of "Special Sound". He continued to produce effects for the programme until 1972 when he left the Workshop, leaving Dick Mills to produce effects for the remainder of the show's run.
Peter Howell is a musician and composer. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who as a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Don Harper was an Australian jazz violinist and composer. During his long and diverse career, both in his native Australia and in the UK, he was a regular on radio and TV music shows, and recorded many albums as a solo performer or as leader of a group. He also composed themes for TV shows including World of Sport and Champion House, as well as incidental music for the 1968 Doctor Who story The Invasion.
Simon Rogers is an English musician, record producer, and BAFTA and EMMY nominated composer, who has been a member of The Fall and The Lightning Seeds.
Fourth Dimension is a 1973 BBC Records release featuring recordings created by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop composer Paddy Kingsland. Although it was credited to "The BBC Radiophonic Workshop" it was the work of Kingsland alone, and was the first album of Workshop music to feature only one artist. It features theme tunes used by BBC radio and television. The music prominently features VCS 3 and "Delaware" Synthi 100 synthesisers, both from Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd, with a standard rock-based session band providing backing. The track "Reg" featured as the B-side to the 1973 single release of the Doctor Who theme.
Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970–1980 is the second in a series of compilations of BBC Radiophonic Workshop music from Doctor Who. The album collected various incidental music from the 1970s including, for the first time, the complete Malcolm Clarke score for the 1972 serial The Sea Devils, only the second scored completely by the Radiophonic Workshop. The compilation also featured a few of Dudley Simpson's compositions as realised by Brian Hodgson, some Delia Derbyshire music as featured in Inferno, two Peter Howell demos from 1979 and a selection of Dick Mills' sound effects from the era.
Robert George Downes is an English avant-garde jazz flautist and saxophonist. He is known for his work with Mike Westbrook and for leading the Open Music Trio since 1968. Downes is also a composer, arranger, and singer of rock and blues.
Ilan Eshkeri is a British composer known for his concert music, films scores and artist collaborations.
Arthur William Oldham OBE was an English composer and choirmaster. He founded the Edinburgh Festival Chorus in 1965, the Chorus of the Orchestre de Paris in 1975, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra Chorus in Amsterdam in 1979. He also worked with the Scottish Opera Chorus 1966–74 and directed the London Symphony Chorus 1969–76. For his work with the LSO Chorus, he won three Grammy Awards. He was also a composer, mainly of religious works, but also a ballet and an opera.
Luis Carlos Miranda Cordal, also known as Carlos Miranda is a Spanish composer, pianist, conductor and actor.
Christopher Whelen was an English composer, conductor and playwright, best known for his radio and television operas. Because much of his work was written for specific theatre productions in the 1950s, or directly for broadcast in the 1960s to the 1980s, little of it survives today, though a number of his scores and related papers have been deposited in the British Library.
The 1965-66 academic year provided some new directions in Jerry's musical development. ... He also became a strong supporter of the student composers of the Department of Music, in particular John Lewis