Michael Nyman (1981 album)
Encyclopedia
Michael Nyman is the third album release by Michael Nyman
and the second with the Michael Nyman Band
, having previously contributed tracks to new music
compilations. Most of the music was material from early films by Peter Greenaway
such as "Bird List Song" from The Falls
, sung by Lucie Skeaping
, and music from Act of God and Tree.
It also includes his first concert work for the band, "In Re Don Giovanni", which is built around a brief 16-bar phrase in the accompaniment of Leporello's catalog
aria
in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Don Giovanni
, which was also released as a single
under the title Mozart. Nyman says he discovered the piece playing the aria on his piano in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis
, which "dictated the dynamic, articulation and texture of everything I've subsequently done."
The album should not be confused with Criterion's 1995 promo CD (CRIT CD002), Michael Nyman, which featured previously released material, none of which was from this album, which was released as Piano Records Sheet 005, and which has yet to be issued on CD. It was announced for release in 2009, in connection with Nyman's 65th birthday. this was missed, and it has been announced again for release on November 21, 2011.
Published by Chester Music/Michael Nyman Ltd
Produced by David Cunningham
"Waltz in F" was reissued on the compilation, Century XXI UK: N-Z It is the only track to be issued on CD in its album performance. The main waltz theme, without the jazz improvizations, was the basis of "Waltzing the Bird" on À la folie
. "In Re Don Giovanni" and the instrumental "Bird List" appeared on Live
in new, live versions. A new recording of In Re appears on the 2008 album Mozart 252
. "Initial Treat," the opening titles from Tree, is part of Five Orchestral Pieces for Opus Tree, which can be heard in its complete form by Jon Gibson
and other artists at The Kitchen
on the 1979 edition of From the Kitchen Archives.
The single, Mozart/Webern was released on Les Disques du Crépuscule
. "Mozart" is "In Re Don Giovanni;" "Webern" is "Secondary Treat." A third track, "Untitled," is "Initial Treat."
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
and the second with the Michael Nyman Band
Michael Nyman Band
The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic...
, having previously contributed tracks to new music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
compilations. Most of the music was material from early films by Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, CBE is a British film director. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular...
such as "Bird List Song" from The Falls
The Falls
The Falls is a 1980 film directed by Peter Greenaway. It was Greenaway's first feature-length film after many years making shorts. It does not have a traditional dramatic narrative; it takes the form of a mock documentary in 92 short parts.-Plot:...
, sung by Lucie Skeaping
Lucie Skeaping
Lucie Skeaping is a British singer, instrumentalist and broadcaster, founder of the early music group the City Waites, pioneering klezmer band The Burning Bush and presenter of BBC Radio 3's Early Music Show, a programme dedicated to the early music repertoire...
, and music from Act of God and Tree.
It also includes his first concert work for the band, "In Re Don Giovanni", which is built around a brief 16-bar phrase in the accompaniment of Leporello's catalog
Madamina, il catalogo è questo
"" is a bass aria from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte.It is sung in scene 5 of the first act of the opera, by Leporello, to Donna Elvira. It consists of a description and count of his master's lovers and is sung to a light-hearted tune...
aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, which was also released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
under the title Mozart. Nyman says he discovered the piece playing the aria on his piano in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, which "dictated the dynamic, articulation and texture of everything I've subsequently done."
The album should not be confused with Criterion's 1995 promo CD (CRIT CD002), Michael Nyman, which featured previously released material, none of which was from this album, which was released as Piano Records Sheet 005, and which has yet to be issued on CD. It was announced for release in 2009, in connection with Nyman's 65th birthday. this was missed, and it has been announced again for release on November 21, 2011.
Published by Chester Music/Michael Nyman Ltd
Produced by David Cunningham
Band members
- Rory Allam - clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
- Alexander BalanescuAlexander BalanescuAlexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Balanescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
- violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - Anne Barnard - french horn
- Ben Grove - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - John HarleJohn HarleJohn Harle is an English saxophonist and composer.-Biography:John Harle - SaxophonistJohn Harle is one of the world’s leading saxophonists, and the most significant performer of the saxophone in the concert hall today...
- saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Nick Hayley - rebecRebecThe rebecha is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.- Origins :The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries...
, violin - Ian Mitchell - clarinet
- Michael NymanMichael NymanMichael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Elisabeth Perry - violin
- Steve Saunders - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Roderick Skeaping - rebec, violin
- Keith Thompson - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, saxophone - Doug Wootton - banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
Guest musicians
- Peter BrötzmannPeter BrötzmannPeter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
- bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Evan ParkerEvan ParkerEvan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
- soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in... - Lucie Skeaping - sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Track listing
- Bird Anthem (from Act of God) 2:37
- Initial Treat (from Tree) 2:50
- Secondary Treat (from Tree) 1:27
- In Re Don Giovanni 2:48
- Waltz in F 5:55
- Bird List Song (from The FallsThe FallsThe Falls is a 1980 film directed by Peter Greenaway. It was Greenaway's first feature-length film after many years making shorts. It does not have a traditional dramatic narrative; it takes the form of a mock documentary in 92 short parts.-Plot:...
) 4:19 - M-Work 21:09
"Waltz in F" was reissued on the compilation, Century XXI UK: N-Z It is the only track to be issued on CD in its album performance. The main waltz theme, without the jazz improvizations, was the basis of "Waltzing the Bird" on À la folie
À la folie
The music by Michael Nyman has been praised as one of his better works, and considered unusually buried in the sound mix of the film. The album is Nyman's 23rd release, and the fourteenth with the Michael Nyman Band...
. "In Re Don Giovanni" and the instrumental "Bird List" appeared on Live
Live (1994 album)
Live is a 1994 album by Michael Nyman and the Michael Nyman Band. It is Nyman's 24th release and the fifteenth with the Band. It is the first commercial live album by the band, which had previously performed live on the magazine release, The Masterwork' Award Winning Fish-Knife...
in new, live versions. A new recording of In Re appears on the 2008 album Mozart 252
Mozart 252
Mozart 252 is a 2008 album by Michael Nyman with the Michael Nyman Band, Hilary Summers, and Andrew Slater, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth...
. "Initial Treat," the opening titles from Tree, is part of Five Orchestral Pieces for Opus Tree, which can be heard in its complete form by Jon Gibson
Jon Gibson (minimalist musician)
Jon Gibson is a flautist, saxophonist, and composer.-Education:Gibson studied at Sacramento State University and with Henry Onderdonk and Wayne Peterson at San Francisco State University, where he earned a BA in 1964...
and other artists at The Kitchen
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
on the 1979 edition of From the Kitchen Archives.
The single, Mozart/Webern was released on Les Disques du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
. "Mozart" is "In Re Don Giovanni;" "Webern" is "Secondary Treat." A third track, "Untitled," is "Initial Treat."