5 movements derived from the score I wrote for the Michael Nyman Band in early 2009 as a soundtrack to the film 'Poczatek'. For this project I selectedextracts from classic Polish feature and documentary films of the 50s 60s and 70s and organised them into a sequence of 20 linked one minute 'single theme' films.This version was made specially for the FidelioTrio.  -MichaelNyman (2010)

Revisiting The Don is a piece of music composed by Michael Nyman for the album 'Mozart 252' a celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. Revisiting The Don is one of the twonewly-composed works on this album and is arranged here as a full score for String Quintet. Nyman himself states that 'as the title suggests I revisit the same harmonicmaterial that makes 'In Re Don Giovanni' so powerful and come up with more lyrical 'solutions'.' The result is a wonderful piece beginning with a smooth staccato that lays the foundations for wonderful lilting melodies. Thepiece gradually progresses to widen out the warm strings making this piece a real joy to play.

Short Version-For Violin Cello and Piano. Composer's Notes 'Even though this work was intended to celebrate (as instructed by the commissioner Brolly Arts of Salt LakeCity) the wildlife and landscape of Utah (and especially its birdlife notably the sora which has a noticeable influence on the melodic writing at times) the title refers ironically in this 'natural' context to the re-seeing’of (mainly industrial) reality in early Soviet photography. Aleksandr Rodchenko (1881-1956) drew attention to the new type of photographer as someone who photographs 'facts' and who is able through photography to fight against'looking like art' with high quality examples and to do this you have to experiment going as far as the ‘easelisation’ of the photographic art.The work was written for and first performed by the Ahn Trio in November2004 in Salt Lake City and is dedicated to the memory of John Peel the British radio disc jockey who died during the final stages of its composition.' - Michael Nyman

Score and Parts for Michael Nyman's fifth String Quartet 'Let's not make a song and dance out of it'.

String Quartet No.4 was written for the Camilli Quartet who gave the first performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London April 1995. It is dedicated to the memory of Nyman's composition teacher Alan Bush.This quartet is anarrative made up of a chain of twelve complete but often cross-related movements each quite simple in design. For instance the Scottish melody first heard in the second half of I is hinted at in the 2nd violin/viola in thesecond fast section of II and is directly quoted again during III and XII. The theme of the fast section of IV is taken up again in VIII; IX reverts to the mood of the opening of I while the rising scale/syncopated themes of II IX and the bass of X and XII are related. X also reintroduces the slow harmonics theme from VII. XII is (apparently) cast in the form of a baroque French rondeau. The main theme of VI was plucked out of the Quartet and used inmy score for Christopher Hampton’s film Carrington. Duration 40 minutes. A set of parts is available for sale.

The arrangement for string quartet was made at the request of Alexander Balanescu for the Bicentenary of Mozart's death in 1991. It was first performed by the Balanescu Quartet at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London 1991.Duration 3 minutes. A set of parts is available for sale.

For violin cello and piano'The title 'Time Will Pronounce'is taken from the last lines of Joseph Brodsky’s poem 'Bosnia Tune' which deals with the horror of the unnecessary unacceptable daily deaths in Bosnia during 1992 (andstill in 1993): ‘Time whose sharp blood-thirsty quill parts the killed from those who kill will pronounce the latter tribe as your type’. The violin and cello are (generally) treated as a unit independent of the piano. Theform (generally) alternates slow and fast tempi without motivation. The musical ideas are (generally) carried over from section to section. (Generally) the harmonic melodic and textual materials features third and semitonesderived (generally) from the movement of the bass part in the opening bars.

Score commissioned by Mr. Keith H. Yoo to accompany the exhibition of Photography 'De Ma Fenetre' by Korean artist Ahae held at the Jardin des Tuileries Musee du Louvre June 27th - August 26th 2012 and premiered at a Galadinner in the exhibition pavillion on June 25th 2012.

The composer made this arrangement of the Third String Quartet for string orchestra in March 2003. The first performance was given by the Eos Orchestra New York conducted by Ken Selden in the Concert Hall Ethical CulturalSociety New York City on 24 April 2003.Quoting composer: In the summer of 1989 I composed a choral work Out of the Ruins for Agnieszka Piotrowska’s BBC2 documentary which dealt with the physical and emotional responsesof some of the inhabitants of Leninakhan to the earthquake which devastated Armenia the previous December. When he heard the recording of the work that I made with the Holy Echmiadzin Chorus under the fervent conducting of KhorenMeykhanejian Alex Balanescu suggested turning Out of the Ruins into a string quartet. There seemed no reason or opportunity to do this until I felt the need to add to the intensity of my experiences in Armenia the no lessprofound experience of witnessing the images of the Romanian revolution on television during the latter part of December 1989.Just as the structure of my Third String Quartet (1990) may connect it with the First so they alsoshare a debt to Thurston Dart (my professor at King’s College London between 1961 and 1965). It was Dart who had the inspiration to send me to Romania in 1965 ostensibly to study folk music. The volumes of transcriptions that Ibrought back with me had remained unopened until with this proposed ‘celebratory’ string quartet (though at the time it was difficult to know quite what to celebrate in postrevolutionary Romania) an occasion arose where I coulduse this material in what seemed to me was a non-exploitative manner. The compositional procedure was as follows: to take Out of the Ruins as a template on which the Romanian vocal or instrumental music would besuperimposed quite often stretched into new intervallic shapes through the demands of the completely pre-formed harmonic structure.

String Quartet No.2 was commissioned by Shobana Jeyasingh as a solo dance work: Miniatures. It was first performed by her with the Balanescu Quartet on 15 September 1988 London. Duration 22 minutes. Score available on sale.

String Quartet No.3 was written for and first performed by the Balanescu Quartet February 1990 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London. Duration 16 minutes. Instrumental parts are available on sale.Quoting composer: In thesummer of 1989 I composed a choral work Out of the Ruins for Agnieszka Piotrowska’s BBC2 documentary which dealt with the physical and emotional responses of some inhabitants of Leninakhan to the earthquake whichdevastated Armenia the previous December. When he heard the recording of the work that I made with the Holy Echmiadzin Chorus under the fervent conducting of Khoren Meykhanejian Alex Balanescu suggested turning Out of the Ruinsinto a string quartet. There seemed no reason or opportunity to do this until I felt the need to add to the intensity of my experiences in Armenia the no less profound experience of witnessing the images of the Romanianrevolution on television during the later part of December 1989.The compositional procedure was as follows: to take Out of the Ruins as a template on which the Romanian vocal or instrumental music would be superimposed quite often stretched into new intervallic shapes though the demands of the completely performed harmonic structure.