Improvisation skills see composer with dementia launch single for charity

A composition improvised by an 80-year-old composer and former music teacher who was diagnosed with dementia last year is to be released as a single this weekend, with the proceeds split between the Alzheimer’s Society and Music for Dementia. Now entitled Four Notes, Paul Harvey improvised the composition with the notes chosen by his son Nick: F natural, A, D, and B natural. According to Nick, this ability to compose music on the fly has always amazed, so he asked his father to improvise the tune one day when he was feeling low, and posted the clip of him improvising the melody on the piano on Twitter in September.   https://twitter.com/mrnickharvey/status/1306672245255749632   It quickly went viral and has since received over 1.6m views and 62.2k likes. It was also aired on Broadcasting House for World Alzheimer's Day on 21 September, which led to listeners asking the BBC to orchestrate it, while Paul and Nick Harvey have appeared on Good Morning Britain and BBC Breakfast, and their story covered in numerous news stories and articles.   https://twitter.com/BBCPhilharmonic/status/1310140169199255552   The media attention has also seen past pupils – including a member of UK rock band The Cutting Crew, and a Doctor Who composer – plus friends and colleagues getting back in touch with Paul to share what he has meant to them over the years. The single is due to be released this weekend, on 1 November.   https://twitter.com/mrnickharvey/status/1319238267087314944      

from UK Fundraising https://ift.tt/2TwrijM