''Memorial'' is an epic funeral march-like piece, composed by

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...

around 1984–1985. The work premiered on 15 June 1985.Michael Nyman. Liner notes. '' The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover'' It was written to commemorate the deaths of 39 fans, almost all Italian, at the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus at the Heysel Stadium (also known as the Heysel Stadium disaster). The whole piece was performed just once. In 1989, Nyman began "reassigning" elements of ''Memorial'', as he often does with earlier work. The first appearance on a commercial recording was of the fifth movement, on the soundtrack of '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover''. The piece incorporates and builds on a musical sequence from "What Power Art Thou”, an aria from the opera ''

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

'' by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

Releases

The fifth movement appeared in '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'', and re-recorded versions appear on Michael Nyman Band's '' The Essential Michael Nyman Band'' and '' The Composer's Cut Series Vol. II: Nyman/Greenaway Revisited''. '' After Extra Time'' and ''The Very Best of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980-2001'' are reissues of the ''Essential'' and soundtrack versions, respectively. The sixth movement has been released on compact disc under the title "Images Were Introduced" on the album ''

The Kiss and Other Movements ''The Kiss and Other Movements'' is the sixthcounting the withheld ''The Cold Room'' album release by Michael Nyman, and the fifth recording (fourth full album) with the Michael Nyman Band. The title track is an "operatic duet" between Dagmar Krau ...

''. The second and fourth appear on the limited edition album, '' La Traversée de Paris''. The other movements remain unreleased, and Nyman has described the work as "dismantled."

References

{{Michael Nyman Funerary and memorial compositions Compositions by Michael Nyman 1985 compositions