The Very Best of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980-2001
Encyclopedia
The Very Best of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980-2001 is a compilation album
of film music by Michael Nyman
, including three previously unreleased tracks (from Nelly's Version
and Monsieur Hire
) and one from the limited release, La Traversée de Paris
. Some tracks are from the original soundtracks, while others are from pre-existing rerecordings such as The Essential Michael Nyman Band
and Live
.
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of film music by Michael Nyman
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...
, including three previously unreleased tracks (from Nelly's Version
Nelly's Version
Nelly's Version is a 1983 British mystery film directed by Maurice Hatton and starring Eileen Atkins, Anthony Bate and Nicholas Ball. It was based on a novel by Eva Figes. A woman turns up a hotel having lost her memory and forgotten who she is.-Cast:...
and Monsieur Hire
Monsieur Hire
Monsieur Hire is a 1989 French film directed by Patrice Leconte and starring Michel Blanc in the title role and Sandrine Bonnaire as the object of his affection. The film received numerous accolades as well as a glowing review from popular American movie commentator Roger Ebert. The film is based...
) and one from the limited release, La Traversée de Paris
La Traversée de Paris (album)
La Traversée de Paris is an album by the Michael Nyman Band featuring music composed by Michael Nyman for an audio-visual exhibition of the same name which took place at the Grande Arche de la Défense from July to December 1989 to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution.-Track...
. Some tracks are from the original soundtracks, while others are from pre-existing rerecordings such as The Essential Michael Nyman Band
The Essential Michael Nyman Band
The Essential Michael Nyman Band is a studio album featuring a collection of music by Michael Nyman written for the films of Peter Greenaway and newly performed by the Michael Nyman Band. It is the seventeenth album release by Nyman...
and 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...
.
Disc 1
- Bird List (04:16) 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:...
/LiveLive (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... - Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds (05:26) from The Draughtsman's ContractThe Draughtsman's ContractThe Draughtsman's Contract is a 1982 British film written and directed by Peter Greenaway – his first conventional feature film . Originally produced for Channel 4 the film is a form of murder mystery, set in 1694...
/The Essential Michael Nyman BandThe Essential Michael Nyman BandThe Essential Michael Nyman Band is a studio album featuring a collection of music by Michael Nyman written for the films of Peter Greenaway and newly performed by the Michael Nyman Band. It is the seventeenth album release by Nyman... - An Eye For Optical Theory (05:09) from The Draughtsman's Contract/soundtrack
- Homage To Maurice (02:16) from Nelly's VersionNelly's VersionNelly's Version is a 1983 British mystery film directed by Maurice Hatton and starring Eileen Atkins, Anthony Bate and Nicholas Ball. It was based on a novel by Eva Figes. A woman turns up a hotel having lost her memory and forgotten who she is.-Cast:...
(previously unreleased) - Angelfish Decay (02:49) from A Zed And Two NoughtsA Zed & Two NoughtsElements of Michael Nyman's score invoke the "Dies Irae" section from Heinrich Ignaz Biber's Requiem ex F con terza minore. The Angelfish Decay/Swan Rot/L'Escargot theme was originally written for Childs Play, a dance work commissioned by Lucinda Childs. Performance of the soundtrack is credited...
/soundtrack - Time Lapse (03:58) from A Zed And Two Noughts/The Essential Michael Nyman Band
- Trysting Fields (03:27) from Drowning By NumbersDrowning by NumbersDrowning by Numbers is a 1988 British film directed by Peter Greenaway. It was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:The film's plot centers on three women — a grandmother, mother and daughter — each named Cissie Colpitts. As the story progresses each woman successively drowns her husband...
/soundtrack - Wheelbarrow Walk (02:12) from Drowning By Numbers/The Essential Michael Nyman Band
- Knowing The Ropes (03:17) from Drowning By Numbers/The Essential Michael Nyman Band
- Memorial (12:00) from The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her LoverThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her LoverThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a 1989 romantic crime drama written and directed by Peter Greenaway, starring Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, and Alan Howard in the titular roles...
/The Essential Michael Nyman Band - Skating (01:26) from Monsieur HireMonsieur HireMonsieur Hire is a 1989 French film directed by Patrice Leconte and starring Michel Blanc in the title role and Sandrine Bonnaire as the object of his affection. The film received numerous accolades as well as a glowing review from popular American movie commentator Roger Ebert. The film is based...
(previously unreleased) - Peeking (02:43) from Monsieur Hire (previously unreleased)
- Abandoning (03:30) from Le Mari de la CoiffeuseThe Hairdresser's HusbandThe Hairdresser's Husband , a 1990 French film written by Patrice Leconte and Claude Klotz, and directed by Leconte. Jean Rochefort stars as the title character. Anna Galiena co-stars.It won Patrice Leconte the Prix Louis Delluc...
- Skirting (02:05) from Le Mari de la Coiffeuse
- Miranda Previsited (06:48) from Prospero's BooksProspero's BooksProspero's Books , written and directed by Peter Greenaway, is a cinematic adaptation of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. John Gielgud is Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters...
/La Traversée de ParisLa Traversée de Paris (album)La Traversée de Paris is an album by the Michael Nyman Band featuring music composed by Michael Nyman for an audio-visual exhibition of the same name which took place at the Grande Arche de la Défense from July to December 1989 to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution.-Track... - Here To There (01:00) from The PianoThe PianoThe Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...
- The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise (03:10) from The Piano
- All Imperfect Things (04:02) from The Piano
- Dreams Of A Journey (05:03) from The Piano
Disc 2
- Escape (03:38) from À la folieÀ la folieThe 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...
- Fly Drive (01:32) from CarringtonCarrington (film)Carrington is a biographical film written and directed by Christopher Hampton about the life of the English painter Dora Carrington , who was known simply as "Carrington"...
- The Infinite Complexities Of Christmas (04:12) from Carrington
- If (04:25) from The Diary of Anne FrankAnne no nikki- Track listing :#Amsterdam Dawn#Anne's Birthday#The Schoolroom#Letter From Germany#Goodbye Moortje#Candlefire#Renewal#Light Of Love#Chatterbox Waltz#Hanukah#Spring Freedom#Concentration Camp#If#First Kiss#D-Day#The Diary Of Hope#Silent Separation...
- Abel Carries Ephraim (05:55) from The OgreThe Ogre (film)The score is composed by Michael Nyman and features strictly brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments by members of the Michael Nyman Band. The music was rerecorded by Wingates Band, with the woodwind parts transcribed for brass, on the 2006 album, Nyman Brass.-Track listing:#Knights at School...
- Becoming Jerome/God's Hands (02:58) from GattacaGattacaGattaca is a 1997 science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin....
- The Morrow (03:11) from Gattaca
- The Other Side (03:41) from Gattaca
- The Departure (03:49) from Gattaca
- Convening The Coven (04:05) from Practical MagicPractical MagicPractical Magic is a 1998 American fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Alice Hoffman...
- Stranger At The Window (01:38) from RavenousRavenousRavenous is a 1999 horror film directed by Antonia Bird and starring Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle and Jeffrey Jones. The film revolves around cannibalism in 1840s California and some elements bear similarities to the story of the Donner Party and that of Alferd Packer...
- Cannibal Fantasy (02:12) from Ravenous
- Molly (02:51) from WonderlandWonderland (1999 film)Wonderland is a 1999 drama film about the lives of a London couple, their three adult daughters and absent son. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, the film stars Jack Shepherd, Kika Markham, Shirley Henderson, Gina McKee, Molly Parker, John Simm, and Stuart Townsend...
- Eddie (03:56) from Wonderland
- Dan (02:15) from Wonderland
- Eileen (03:41) from Wonderland
- Sarah Dies (02:58) from The End Of The AffairThe End of the Affair (1999 film)Michael Nyman would later use "Diary of Love" to open and close his solo album, The Piano Sings . As with many of Nyman's 1990s scores, he incorporates material from his String Quartet No.3, which was in turn based on a choral piece titled Out of the Ruins.-Track listing:#Diary of Hate 2:38#Henry...
- The End Of The Affair (02:56) from The End Of The Affair
- The Shoot-out (05:06) from The ClaimThe ClaimThe Claim is a 2000 British Western/romance film directed by Michael Winterbottom. The screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce is loosely based on the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. The original music score is composed by Michael Nyman....
- The Burning (09:18) from The Claim