Michael Nyman: Michael Nyman: The Piano: Piano: Instrumental Album

Michael Nyman's The Piano Concerto is based entirely on material selected from his soundtrack to Jane Campion's film 'The Piano.' This version is for Two Pianos reducing the Orchestral accompaniment ofNyman's original scoring to a second Piano part. A full performance lasts around 35 minutes.

Solo Piano Part-Michael Nyman's The Piano Concerto is based entirely on material selected from his soundtrack to Jane Campion's film 'The Piano.' The original Orchestral score was commissioned by the Festival de Lille in1993 and first performed that same year. This is the Solo Piano Part of the reconsideration for Two Pianos. A full performance lasts around 32 minutes.

I Sonetti Lussuriosi is a collection of pieces by world-renowned composer Michael Nyman. This work is a setting of 8 pieces of erotic poetry by Italian poet Pietro Aretino. These are theParts of this work including Violin I Violin II Viola Cello and Piano. I Sonetti Lussuriosi was inspired by Renaissance engravings of couples engagedin sexual intercourse which caused outrage among authorities at the time. At the world premiere of Nyman's work Marie Angel voiced both the male and female characters with the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia conducted byMichael Nyman himself.

Dedicated to Thurston Dart Michael Nyman?s professor at King?s College London much of String Quartet No. 1 borrows and is inspired by the works of seventeenth century composer John Bull whosecomplete keyboard works Dart gave Nyman as a birthday present. The other main source of inspiration was Schöneberg?s Second String Quartet from the early 20th century.In his introduction to the piece Nymandescribes his two background ideas when composing the work: first to make an almost ?orchestral? chamber music and second to exorcise the impressive and oppressive history of the String quartet by making his work a compendium ofquotations from the quartet repertoire. Commissioned by the Arditti Quartet and first performed by them in 1985 String Quartet No. 1 has a duration of 25:44 minutes.Michael Nyman is an Englishcomposer of minimalist music pianist librettist and musicologist known for numerous film and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to ?The Piano?. He has additionally written a number of operas six concerti four stringquartets and many other chamber works.

I Sonetti Lussuriosi is a collection of pieces by world-renowned composer Michael Nyman. This work is a setting of 8 pieces of erotic poetry by Italian poet Pietro Aretino. This is the FullScore and is arranged for Voice and Piano Quintet. I Sonetti Lussuriosi was inspired by Renaissance engravings of couples engaged in sexual intercourse which caused outrage amongauthorities at the time. At the world premiere of Nyman's work Marie Angel voiced both the male and female characters with the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia conducted by Michael Nyman himself.

Composer's Notes:When I was asked to write a piece to celebrate the restoration of Michelangelo’s Mosè I returned to the paper written by Sigmund Freud on the sculpture which I had discovered by chance many years ago.Freud’s fascination with the Mosè began in 1901 when he visited San Pietro in Vincoli for the first time. A series of subsequent visits culminated in the publication of the Moses of Michaelangelo in 1914 from which I have usedtwo extracts to ‘frame’ the main body of my text which consists of selections from Michelangelo’s own letters. In 1505 Michelangelo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julis II and was commissioned to build a tomb which would reflectthe magnificence of the Pontiff’s reign. Forty years and four Popes later the tomb modified and scaled down due to a variety of financial and political changes of circumstance was completed. The letters give the impression ofan idealist at work: Michelangelo personally selected each piece of marble and supervised its transportation to Rome by his more worldly and capricious paymasters. His creative and artistic frustrations are mirrored by problems ofa more a practical nature; payment for both his services and the materials is erratic. At one point his is accused of embezzling funds. The complete text tells the story of an artists struggle and eventual triumph againstexternal circumstances. The Mosè by virtue of its very nature combines the elements of the physical and the spiritual with which Michelangelo challenged and eventually triumphed over the restraints of the context in which he hadto work. The lovingly selected and cared for marble in the hands of the unpaid exploited artist is transformed into something more substantial and eternal. Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman is a composer pianist librettist writer musicologist photographer and film-maker whose work encompasses opera concert music and film soundtracks of which The Draughtsman's Contract and The Piano arethe best-known. Since founding the Michael Nyman Band in 1977 which tours the world he has worked with leading film directors and has collaborated with artists such as Mary Kelly Damon Albarn Carsten Nicolai and the recentOscar winning Man on Wire star Phillippe Petit.Songs For Tony for String Quartet was composed in 1993 in memory of Tony Simmons.'I began writing a saxophone quartet on New Year's Eve 1992. Inthe early afternoon of 5th January 1993 I was informed that my friend and business manager Tony Simmons had died after a long and heroic fight against cancer. I immediately sat down and wrote the music which became the fourthsong in what became a 'memorial' quartet. The previously composed music was scrapped as I decided to give each player in turn an 'aria' of his own.The first song is a transcription of an actual song - 'Mozart onMortality' - which I wrote for the Composers Ensemble in the spring of 1992. The text by Mozart himself is all too appropriate: 'I may not see another day'. The second song is adapted from the music for the scene in JaneCampion's film The Piano where the mute Ada (Holly Hunter) pushes her chief means of communication her piano overboard. This film was the last major deal that Tony negotiated on my behalf. The third song a soprano sax solo isbased on a tune I composed some years ago but was saving for a special occasion.' - Michael Nyman