Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a British minimalist composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway.
Nyman, who had studied with the noted Baroque music scholar Thurston Dart at King's College London, drew frequently on early music sources in his scores for Greenaway's films: Henry Purcell in The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook Read Full BioMichael Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a British minimalist composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway.
Nyman, who had studied with the noted Baroque music scholar Thurston Dart at King's College London, drew frequently on early music sources in his scores for Greenaway's films: Henry Purcell in The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber in A Zed and Two Noughts, Mozart in Drowning by Numbers, and John Dowland in Prospero's Books.
Nyman's popularity increased significantly after he wrote the score to Jane Campion's award-winning 1993 film The Piano. The album ("The Piano") became a classical music best-seller. Although Nyman's score was central to the movie he did not receive an Academy Award nomination despite being nominated for both a British Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He has scored numerous other films, the vast majority of them art films from Europe. His few forays into Hollywood composing have been Gattaca ("Gattaca"), Ravenous (with musician Damon Albarn), and The End of the Affair ("The End of the Affair").
Among Nyman's better known non-film works are Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs (1987), for soprano, alto, tenor and instrumental ensemble (based on Nyman's score for La Princesse de Milan); Ariel Songs (1990) for soprano and band; MGV (Musique à Grande Vitesse) (1993) for band; concertos for piano (based on The Piano score), harpsichord, trombone and saxophone; the opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986), based on a case-study by Oliver Sacks; and several string quartets.
On children's television shows, Michael has created the music for Katie and Orbie and Titch.
Many of Nyman's works are written for his own ensemble, the Michael Nyman Band, a group formed for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldonip's Il Campiello. Originally made up of old instruments such as rebecs and shawms alongside more modern instruments like the saxophone in order to produce as loud a sound as possible without amplification, it later switched to a fully amplified lineup of string quartet, three saxophones, bass trombone, bass guitar and piano. This line up has been variously altered and augmented for some works.
Nyman also wrote an influential book in 1974 on experimental music called Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, which explored the influence of John Cage on classical composers. He is generally acknowledged to have been the first to apply the term "minimalism" to music, in a 1968 article in The Spectator magazine about the English composer Cornelius Cardew.
In the 1970s, Nyman was a member of the infamous Portsmouth Sinfonia, the self-described World's Worst Orchestra - playing on their recordings and in their concerts.
He has also recorded pop music, with the Flying Lizards
Nyman, who had studied with the noted Baroque music scholar Thurston Dart at King's College London, drew frequently on early music sources in his scores for Greenaway's films: Henry Purcell in The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook Read Full BioMichael Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a British minimalist composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway.
Nyman, who had studied with the noted Baroque music scholar Thurston Dart at King's College London, drew frequently on early music sources in his scores for Greenaway's films: Henry Purcell in The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber in A Zed and Two Noughts, Mozart in Drowning by Numbers, and John Dowland in Prospero's Books.
Nyman's popularity increased significantly after he wrote the score to Jane Campion's award-winning 1993 film The Piano. The album ("The Piano") became a classical music best-seller. Although Nyman's score was central to the movie he did not receive an Academy Award nomination despite being nominated for both a British Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He has scored numerous other films, the vast majority of them art films from Europe. His few forays into Hollywood composing have been Gattaca ("Gattaca"), Ravenous (with musician Damon Albarn), and The End of the Affair ("The End of the Affair").
Among Nyman's better known non-film works are Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs (1987), for soprano, alto, tenor and instrumental ensemble (based on Nyman's score for La Princesse de Milan); Ariel Songs (1990) for soprano and band; MGV (Musique à Grande Vitesse) (1993) for band; concertos for piano (based on The Piano score), harpsichord, trombone and saxophone; the opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986), based on a case-study by Oliver Sacks; and several string quartets.
On children's television shows, Michael has created the music for Katie and Orbie and Titch.
Many of Nyman's works are written for his own ensemble, the Michael Nyman Band, a group formed for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldonip's Il Campiello. Originally made up of old instruments such as rebecs and shawms alongside more modern instruments like the saxophone in order to produce as loud a sound as possible without amplification, it later switched to a fully amplified lineup of string quartet, three saxophones, bass trombone, bass guitar and piano. This line up has been variously altered and augmented for some works.
Nyman also wrote an influential book in 1974 on experimental music called Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, which explored the influence of John Cage on classical composers. He is generally acknowledged to have been the first to apply the term "minimalism" to music, in a 1968 article in The Spectator magazine about the English composer Cornelius Cardew.
In the 1970s, Nyman was a member of the infamous Portsmouth Sinfonia, the self-described World's Worst Orchestra - playing on their recordings and in their concerts.
He has also recorded pop music, with the Flying Lizards
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The Heart Asks Pleasure First
Michael Nyman Lyrics
Instrumental
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Battleship Nagato
OMFG
sorry for the language but, i'll start from the beginning
i was born late 1993 coincidence or not
i think my mom listened to this while i was on her womb
and anyway there was a CD with this that my parents would occasionally hear, until 2007 or so when the CD was lost.
i've had other songs stuck in my head after it, but i've always had this song stuck there, and i couldn't find it for nothing
i tried searching for "that famous piano solo" no avail
"that famous piano song" no avail
"hollywood famous piano song" nope
"classic hollywood famous piano song" no
etc. etc.
there was a small computer game, i cannot remember about what, that had a MIDI of this as background music, but in the game files there was only "music.mid"
nowadays there's even an ad on TV with a similar music that reminded me of that
various things happened in my life since 2007 and there were sad moments, nevertheless i was happy. BUT this thing was torturing me very silently. It was less of a silent killer than stuff that's usually a silent killer like ageing and seconhand smoke. Today, April 2nd 2017, after 10 years of nanometrically small torture, I FINALLY FOUND IT. The way i feel is out of my words.
tl:dr
i've had this song stuck in my head for 10 years.
mistofigo
"Above the lakes, above the vales,
The mountains and the woods, the clouds, the seas,
Beyond the sun, beyond the ether,
Beyond the confines of the starry spheres,
My soul, you move with ease,
And like a strong swimmer in rapture in the wave
You wing your way blithely through boundless space
With virile joy unspeakable.
Fly far, far away from this baneful miasma
And purify yourself in the celestial air,
Drink the ethereal fire of those limpid regions
As you would the purest of heavenly nectars.
Beyond the vast sorrows and all the vexations
That weigh upon our lives and obscure our vision,
Happy is he who can with his vigorous wing
Soar up towards those fields luminous and serene,
He whose thoughts, like skylarks,
Toward the morning sky take flight
— Who hovers over life and understands with ease
The language of flowers and silent things!"
C. Baudelaire - "Elevation" - Les fleurs du mal
Battleship Nagato
OMFG
sorry for the language but, i'll start from the beginning
i was born late 1993 coincidence or not
i think my mom listened to this while i was on her womb
and anyway there was a CD with this that my parents would occasionally hear, until 2007 or so when the CD was lost.
i've had other songs stuck in my head after it, but i've always had this song stuck there, and i couldn't find it for nothing
i tried searching for "that famous piano solo" no avail
"that famous piano song" no avail
"hollywood famous piano song" nope
"classic hollywood famous piano song" no
etc. etc.
there was a small computer game, i cannot remember about what, that had a MIDI of this as background music, but in the game files there was only "music.mid"
nowadays there's even an ad on TV with a similar music that reminded me of that
various things happened in my life since 2007 and there were sad moments, nevertheless i was happy. BUT this thing was torturing me very silently. It was less of a silent killer than stuff that's usually a silent killer like ageing and seconhand smoke. Today, April 2nd 2017, after 10 years of nanometrically small torture, I FINALLY FOUND IT. The way i feel is out of my words.
tl:dr
i've had this song stuck in my head for 10 years.
nenntmichbond
Haha mate I'm crying hard right now from joy, I'm infinitely happy for you. This must be so great.
I'm searching for a song for a solid 10 years now, too. I think when I find it my heart will just explode.
epineh
If you really want to go full circle, learn to play this yourself. Speaking from experience the joy of learning a piece that you are already passionate about is amazing! You will find a depth in the music you didn't ever know was there, even if it is frustrating at times, its so worth it :)
Vanessa Viola
Tiago Costa OMG the same thing happened to me with another piano piece: comptine dun autre ete from Amelie. Not quite a decade but about 7 years, drove me crazy! I recommend you listen if you love this, has similar energy. ☺️👌🏽
Adam Ahmad
Thank God you finally found it.
sam iexy
Tiago Costa your language is unforgivable
TheRaGiTe
I used to play this for hours on the piano. I'd close my eyes and get lost in the emotion.
K. M.
same !!
M.I. H-G
TheRaGiTe I’m learning it for the first time now. It’s so beautiful
LIZZY_ and friends
i have a very close connection with this song, when i was eight or nine and i was going to the university for my piano examination i was really nervous so my dad played this song in the car for me and from then every saturday when i would go to piano lessons i would make my dad play this tune for me. {and we ended up purchasing about 100 classical piano songs}