Michael Nyman: in Concert

SKU: HL.14023645

ISBN 9780711983281. 9.0x12.0x0.162 inches.

These three solo harpsichord pieces are a collection of recent compositions, each with an individual theme and idea. The first, The convertibility of Lute Strings, was first performed at the Purcell Room, London in 1992. The second, Tango for Tim was written in memory of a friend and composer Tim Souster, which was composed and first performed in 1994. The third piece, Elisabeth Gets Her Way, is an extended version of the cadenza which Elisabeth Chojnacka persuaded Michael Nyman to add to his Harpsichord Concerto, which includes material from the first two pieces in this album.

SKU: HL.14023639

UPC: 884088814373. 8.0x12.0 inches.

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 Cultural Society, 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 responses of 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 Khoren Meykhanejian, 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 less profound 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 also share 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 I brought 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 could use 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 be superimposed, quite often stretched into new intervallic shapes through the demands of the completely pre-formed harmonic structure.

SKU: HL.49009769

ISBN 9783795772758. UPC: 884088200862.

With more than 1,200 titles from the orchestral and choral repertoire, from chamber music and musical theatre, Edition Eulenburg is the world's largest series of scores, covering large part of music history from the Baroque to the Classical era and looking back on a long tradition.

SKU: HL.238317

UPC: 888680912949. 12x16.5 inches.

Originally composed in 2007, this is the Full Score to the 2013 revised version. Duration: 21 minutes.

SKU: HL.49015911

ISBN 9790200202434. 5.25x7.5x0.125 inches.

With more than 1,200 titles from the orchestral and choral repertoire, from chamber music and musical theatre, Edition Eulenburg is the world's largest series of scores, covering large part of music history from the Baroque to the Classical era and looking back on a long tradition.

SKU: HL.49009771

ISBN 9783795766153. UPC: 073999818543. 5.25x7.5x0.101 inches.

With more than 1,200 titles from the orchestral and choral repertoire, from chamber music and musical theatre, Edition Eulenburg is the world's largest series of scores, covering large part of music history from the Baroque to the Classical era and looking back on a long tradition.

SKU: HL.50602272

ISBN 9781540080974. UPC: 888680988678. 9.0x12.0x0.165 inches.

This saxophone concerto, written in one continuous movement with a wide variety of tempi, celebrates the talents of John Harle, who has been a central player in the Michael Nyman Band for over ten years. The title has a double reference: on the one hand to the circular orientation dances which a foraging bee performs to communicate the location of food source, and on the other hand to my setting of 'Where the bee sucks', composed for Peter Greenaway's film Prospero's Books and quoted sporadically during the concerto. However, most of the material is derived from a 4-chord sequence that John once overheard me playing and which he expressed a particular liking for. -Michael Nyman.