''The Piano Concerto/MGV'' is the 23rd album by Michael Nyman, released in 1994. It contains two compositions, ''The Piano Concerto'' and '' MGV''. The first is performed by Kathryn Stott and the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

by Michael Nyman, and the second is performed by the

Michael Nyman Band The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, ''Il Campiello'' directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic. The band did not wish to break up aft ...

and Orchestra with Michael Nyman at the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

. The album was released on

Argo Records Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 as a division of Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Arg ...

, and went out of print when the label folded. The original recording was reissued with new cover artwork by MN Records, Nyman's own label, on December 1, 2008

''The Piano Concerto''

''The Piano Concerto'' is a piano concerto based on the music Nyman wrote for ''

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin in her first major acting role, the film focuses on a Elective mutism, mute Scott ...

'' organized into four phases (one movement). The

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

is omitted (" Here to There" is given to the piano soloist) and the piano is accompanied by a traditional

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. The work is Nyman's second concerto, having previously written a saxophone concerto, ''Where the Bee Dances'', for

John Harle John Harle (born 20 September 1956) is an English saxophonist, composer, educator and record producer. He is an Ivor Novello Award winner and has been the recipient of two Royal Television Society awards. Biography Harle was born in Newcastl ...

. ''The Piano Concerto'' was first premiered 26 September 1993 at the Festival de Lille, which was also the debut of ''MGV''. In his

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

. Nyman cites the

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" a ...

as significant, and states the order of composition of the work: Autumn 1991, piano music for

Holly Hunter Holly Patricia Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is an American actress. For her performance as Ada McGrath in the 1993 drama film '' The Piano'', Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She earned three additional Academy Award nominations for ...

to play in the film; Summer 1992, orchestral score for the completed film; concerto commissioned by Festival de Lille in Spring 1993.

Jean-Claude Casadesus Jean-Claude Probst (born 7 December 1935), known professional as Jean-Claude Casadesus, is a French conductor. Biography Casadesus was born in Paris on 7 December 1935, the son of actress Gisèle Casadesus and her husband Lucien Pascal. He beg ...

conducted the premiere of both works. Stott was the premiere soloist. Nyman states that the principal goals of this "reconsideration" threefold: "to create a more coherent structure" for the musical material, elaborates upon the texture for full orchestra (the original was for saxophone and string orchestra), and to make the piano part more virtuoso. The first phase, in A minor, is derived from the Scottish folk song, " Bonny Winter's noo awa"; the second phase is original and chromatic; the third is in G/

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

and based on "

Flowers of the Forest ''Flowers of the Forest'', or ''The Fluuers o the Forest'' (Roud 3812), is a Scottish folk tune and work of war poetry commemorating the defeat of the Scottish army, and the death of James IV, at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513. Although ...

" (much faster and cut apart) and " Bonnie Jean" "massively slowed down" on cellos, trumpet, and ''divisi'' violins, and a harmonic phrase derived from material in the first phase, followed by reprises of "Bonny Winter's noo awa" and "Flowers of the Forest." This recording of ''The Piano Concerto'' runs 32:28. ''The Piano Concerto'' has been rerecorded, first in 1996 by Peter Lawson with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jonathan Carney, former

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

of the Michael Nyman Band, and again in 1997, by John Lenehan (who had performed on ''

The Essential Michael Nyman Band ''The Essential Michael Nyman Band'' is a studio album featuring a collection of music by Michael Nyman written for the films of Peter Greenaway and newly performed by the Michael Nyman Band. It is the seventeenth album release by Nyman. The ...

'' in 1992) with the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United K ...

conducted by

Takuo Yuasa is a Japanese conductor. Biography Takuo Yuasa was born in Osaka, Japan, where he studied piano, cello, flute, and clarinet. At age 18, he received a scholarship to study in the US at the University of Cincinnati, eventually completing a bachel ...

, and released on Naxos Records with ''Where the Bee Dances'' performed by

Simon Haram Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genu ...

, a relative Michael Nyman Band newcomer at the time who is, as of 2008, still a regular member. This latter version is slightly faster and clocks in two minutes shorter, and features a very strong and precise brass section.

MGV: Musique à Grand Vitesse

This recording of ''MGV'' runs 26:30. It is the only commercial recording to date. "5th Region" appears on the promotional compilation '' Michael Nyman''.

Track listing

# The Beach 11:48 # The Woods 6:25 # The Hut 9:06 # The Release 5:09 # 1st Region 4:56 # 2nd Region 4:06 # 3rd Region 8:18 # 4th Region 3:48 # 5th Region 5:22

Personnel

Musicians

The Piano Concerto

* Kathryn Stott, solo piano *

* Michael Nyman, conductor

MGV

The Michael Nyman Band & Orchestra

* Michael Nyman, piano * Alexander Balansecu,

* Clare Connors, violin * Anthony Hinnigan,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

, soprano saxophone *

David Roach David Roach may refer to: *David Roach (American football) (born 1985), American football safety *David Roach (saxophonist) (born 1955), British classical saxophonist *David Roach (comics), British comics artist * David Roach (athletic director) (b ...

, soprano/ alto saxophone *

Andrew Findon Andrew (Andy) Findon is an English woodwind player. He was educated at Harrow County School and The Royal College of Music. He has been baritone saxophone and flute player in the Michael Nyman Band since 1980, and is also a member of Home Serv ...

, baritone saxophone/ piccolo *

Nigel Barr Nigel Barr grew up as a member of the High Wycombe Salvation Army band. In 1980 he went to the Guildhall School of Music and studied trombone with Peter Gane and Denis Wick during that time he was also a member of International Staff Band (1980� ...

, bass trombone * Martin Elliott,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Michael Nyman, conductor

Crew

* Producer: Andrew Cornall * Engineer (The Piano Concerto):

Neil Hutchinson Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...

* Engineer (MGV):

Michael J. Dutton Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

* Tape editor:

Tim Bull Timothy Owen Bull (born 9 December 1966) is an Australian politician. He has been a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorate of Gippsland East. He served as Minister for Local Governm ...

* MGV mixed at Kitsch Studios,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

* Publisher: Michael Nyman Ltd/ Chester Music Ltd * Design: Russell Warren-Fischer * Art direction: David Smart * Michael Nyman photograph: Nigel Parry * Kathryn Stott photograph: Hanya Chlala * Liner notes: Michael Nyman This album is the earliest reference to a Michael Nyman Orchestra, though unlike the band, its members are not credited.

''Short Cuts: Breaking the Sound Barrier''

The album has been issued as a double album with ''Short Cuts: Breaking the Sound Barrier'', a sampler compilation of music from other

albums by

Graham Fitkin Graham Fitkin (born 19 April 1963) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist and postminimalist genres. Described by ''The Independent'' in 1998 as "one of the most important of our younger co ...

(2 tracks),

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early life and career Born on 16 January 1943 in ...

Michael Torke Michael Torke (; born September 22, 1961) is an American composer who writes music influenced by jazz and minimalism. Torke was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Wilson Elementary School, graduated from Wauwatosa East High School, an ...

, Chris Fitkin, Michael Nyman (2 tracks),

Henryk Górecki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as Dir ...

Kevin Volans Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the ''Neue Einfacheit'' (New Simplicity) mov ...

Stanley Myers Stanley Myers (6 October 19309 November 1993) was an English composer and conductor, who scored over sixty films and television series, working closely with filmmakers Nicolas Roeg, Jerzy Skolimowski and Volker Schlöndorff. He is best known fo ...

, David Byrne, Michael Gordon, Robert Moran,

Mark Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

, and

Paul Schoenfield Paul Schoenfield, also spelled Paul Schoenfeld, is a classical composer. He is known for combining popular, folk, and classical music forms. Schoenfield was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. He began to take piano lessons at the age of six, ...

. The booklet is double sized rather than having a separate booklet, and the track listing is on the inner liner tray. The album is easier to find in the single version. ''Short Cuts'' is produced by Andrew Cornall, with art direction by David Smart and design by Russell Warren-Fischer, consisting of 1/4 page grey squares behind the work descriptions. Several sales sites have listed ''Short Cuts'' sampler separately, but none have yet shown a separate album cover.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piano Concerto, The 1994 albums Michael Nyman albums