Monteverdi - E dicea l'una sospirando allora (seconda parte) -  IL secondo libro de' madrigali

The Cinematic Orchestra - Lilac Wine

taken from the album THE PIANO SINGS / Music composed and performed by Michael Nyman

'The Piano Sings' was the long-awaited first release on the MN Records label.

The album features music originally recorded for film soundtracks from 1993 to 2003 including Gattaca, Wonderland, The Diary of Anne Frank, End of the Affair, The Claim, Man with a Movie Camera and The Piano. With their more familiar band and orchestral settings removed, the pieces return to a point echoing their origins. Nyman commented "all of my music starts out as piano music – much of it in song form, so the opportunity to get back to that essence appealed to me, hence the decision to make the album". The album deliberately focuses on the lyrical side of Nyman's piano laying, hence the title.

The Piano Sings presents Michael Nyman's most intimate recording to date, neatly encapsulating the qualities that have made his compositions loved by millions of listeners around the world. While the composer's piano playing is a central element of his touring band and a familiar sound to the many people who've bought & loved his albums, this is the first time he has devoted a complete recording to solo piano.

Buy from MN Records

Debbie

Recorded in April 2005 at Abbey Road Studios, this album is the definitive compilation of the music from the Nyman/Greenaway collaboration.

Miranda is taken from 'Nyman/Greenaway Revisited'...a collection of the most popular music from the five soundtracks provided by the composer for Peter Greenaway's feature films from 1982 – 1991. Music from The Draughtsman's Contract, A Zed and Two Noughts, Drowning By Numbers, The Cook The Thief His Wife And Her Lover, & Prospero's Books is included.

Greenaway & Nyman had a very different relationship from that of most directors/composers, with Greenaway giving Nyman immense scope for the music. Nyman responded in kind with some of the best film music of the last quarter century. The working methods even varied from film to film. While the score of Zed and Two Noughts was composed without the composer even having seen a single frame of the film, the climactic scene of The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover was quite deliberately choreographed to the pre-existing piece Memorial. The music for these films became widely known & hugely influential on a succeeding generation of composers and directors.

One of Nyman's most recently completed film scores (for The Libertine) returns the composer to a film with a 17th century setting, with director Laurence Dunmore claiming it was the memory of hearing the music to A Zed and Two Noughts many years ago that led him to commissioning Nyman for this film, while Michael Winterbottom (a director who has also worked extensively with Nyman), used music from The Draughtsman's Contract for his newest film A Cock and Bull Story. This collection of music has also become immensely well known to a wide public audience. Among the most frequently performed contemporary music, whether on classical radio stations, or through use in film, TV programming or advertising use, these pieces are as familiar to a mainstream audience as many contemporary pop and rock songs.


Miranda (Nyman Band Version)

Nils Landgren & Esbjorn Svensson - Vaggvisa

Crépuscule no.1-8

Crépuscule no.1-8.1

Crépuscule No.1

Artist:  Michael Nyman
Song: Memorial
Film:   The Cook,The Theif, His wife and Her Lover


Debbie

Michael Nyman

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