The Michael Nyman Songbook
Encyclopedia
The Michael Nyman Songbook is a collection of art song
s by Michael Nyman
based on texts by Paul Celan
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, William Shakespeare
and Arthur Rimbaud
. It was recorded as an album with Ute Lemper
in 1991, and again as a concert film
in 1992, under the direction of Volker Schlöndorff
, again with Ute Lemper, though many of the musicians had changed. The songs have been recorded by others and as instrumentals, and are published by Chester Music. The album has been issued by both London Records
and Argo Records
, though the covers are the same except for the logo.
of Paul Celan in German, from the collections, Mohn und Gedächtnis (1952), Von Schwelle zu Schwelle (1955), and Sprachgitter (1959), two letters and a 1787 Carnival riddle
by Mozart in English for the segment by Jeremy Newsom of Artifax/BBC
's Not Mozart titled Letters, Riddles and Writs
, Ariel songs from The Tempest
composed for Prospero's Books
, and L'Orgie Parisienne, ou Paris se Repeuple by Rimbaud. All save the Mozart are performed in their original language.
in A minor, op. 17 no. 4 (the introduction to which was used by Gorecki in his Symphony No. 3
)." It was composed between May and July 1990. Nyman's mother passed on June 7, while he was writing "Blume", and he dedicated the cycle to her memory. "I Am an Unusual Thing" "is based entirely on extracts from two of Haydn quartets" and is from the opera
, Letters, Riddles and Writs
. L'Orgie parisienne is an extract from La Traversée de Paris
.
)
Ariel Songs (Shakespeare)
10. I am an unusual thing (Mozart) – 5.18
L'Orgie Parisienne (Rimbaud)
The album contains only one letter by Mozart, which is musically contiguous with the riddle after the song.
's Night and Fog and Alexander Dovzhenko
's Earth
.
The film does not contain the "Ariel Songs", but includes an instrumental prelude, which is "Miranda" from Prospero's Books. It also includes a letter from Letters, Riddles and Writs.
The only cast credits on the film itself are to Ute Lemper and the Michael Nyman Band
. The band members are credited (with Marjorie Dunn and Beverley Davison's names misspelled as above) in the order above in a booklet packaged with the videocasette and DVD. The DVD edition is coupled with Ute Lemper Chante Kurt Weill.
Art song
An art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
s by Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
based on texts by Paul Celan
Paul Celan
Paul Celan was a poet and translator...
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
. It was recorded as an album with Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
in 1991, and again as a concert film
Concert film
A concert movie, or concert film, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by a musician ....
in 1992, under the direction of Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff is a Berlin-based German filmmaker who has worked in Germany, France and the United States...
, again with Ute Lemper, though many of the musicians had changed. The songs have been recorded by others and as instrumentals, and are published by Chester Music. The album has been issued by both London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
and Argo Records
Argo Records
Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo.Initially, Argo offered a...
, though the covers are the same except for the logo.
The Texts
The texts are the poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
of Paul Celan in German, from the collections, Mohn und Gedächtnis (1952), Von Schwelle zu Schwelle (1955), and Sprachgitter (1959), two letters and a 1787 Carnival riddle
Riddle
A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and...
by Mozart in English for the segment by Jeremy Newsom of Artifax/BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Not Mozart titled Letters, Riddles and Writs
Letters, Riddles and Writs
Letters, Riddles and Writs is a one act opera for television by Michael Nyman. The story is devised by Nyman, with a libretto by Jeremy Newson and Pat Gavin that incorporates Emily Anderson's English translations of correspondence and other texts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the subject of the...
, Ariel songs from The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
composed for Prospero's Books
Prospero's Books
Prospero's Books , written and directed by Peter Greenaway, is a cinematic adaptation of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. John Gielgud is Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters...
, and L'Orgie Parisienne, ou Paris se Repeuple by Rimbaud. All save the Mozart are performed in their original language.
The Music
The songs are officially written for "low female voice". For Six Celan Songs, Nyman specifically wrote the pieces for Lemper. "Corona" and "Blume" "introduce an eight-bar chord sequence derived from Chopin's MazurkaMazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
in A minor, op. 17 no. 4 (the introduction to which was used by Gorecki in his Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 3 (Górecki)
The Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs , is a symphony in three movements composed by Henryk Górecki in Katowice, Poland, between October and December 1976. The work is indicative of the transition between Górecki's dissonant earlier manner and his more tonal...
)." It was composed between May and July 1990. Nyman's mother passed on June 7, while he was writing "Blume", and he dedicated the cycle to her memory. "I Am an Unusual Thing" "is based entirely on extracts from two of Haydn quartets" and is from the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, Letters, Riddles and Writs
Letters, Riddles and Writs
Letters, Riddles and Writs is a one act opera for television by Michael Nyman. The story is devised by Nyman, with a libretto by Jeremy Newson and Pat Gavin that incorporates Emily Anderson's English translations of correspondence and other texts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the subject of the...
. L'Orgie parisienne is an extract from La Traversée de Paris
La Traversée de Paris (album)
La Traversée de Paris is an album by the Michael Nyman Band featuring music composed by Michael Nyman for an audio-visual exhibition of the same name which took place at the Grande Arche de la Défense from July to December 1989 to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution.-Track...
.
Track listing
Six Celan Songs (Paul CelanPaul Celan
Paul Celan was a poet and translator...
)
- 1. Chanson einer Dame in Schatten – 6.18
- 2. Es war Erde in ihnen – 4.12
- 3. Psalm – 3.35
- 4. Corona – 6.08
- 5. Nächtlich gerzchürt – 6.27
- 6. Blume – 5.44
Ariel Songs (Shakespeare)
- 7. Come and go – 3.15
- 8. While you here do snoring lie – 1.06
- 9. Full fathom five – 4.18
10. I am an unusual thing (Mozart) – 5.18
L'Orgie Parisienne (Rimbaud)
- 11. Allez! on préviendra les reflux d'incendie – 3.18
- 12. Quand tes pieds ont dansé – 3.24
Credits
- Ute LemperUte LemperUte Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
, vocals - Alexander BalanescuAlexander BalanescuAlexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Balanescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
, violin - Elisabeth Perry, violin
- Clare Connors, violin
- Michael McMenemy, violin
- Kate Musker, viola
- Tony HinniganTony HinniganAnthony "Tony" Hinnigan is a musician from Glasgow. He is best known for his work with Michael Nyman , Ennio Morricone, and James Horner. He plays cello as well as Irish whistle and various Andean woodwind instruments...
, cello - Ruth Phillips, cello
- Tim Amherst, double bass
- Martin Elliott, bass guitar
- David Rix, clarinet, bass clarinet
- John HarleJohn HarleJohn Harle is an English saxophonist and composer.-Biography:John Harle - SaxophonistJohn Harle is one of the world’s leading saxophonists, and the most significant performer of the saxophone in the concert hall today...
, soprano, alto saxophone - David Roach, soprano, alto, tenor saxophone
- Andrew FindonAndrew FindonAndrew Findon is an English flautist and saxophonist. Educated at Harrow County School for Boys, he trained as an orchestral flautist, and served as principal flute of the National Youth Orchestra in the early 1970s and three years at the Royal College of Music...
, baritone saxophone, flute - Graham Ashton trumpet, flugelhorn
- Marjorie Dunn, horn
- Nigel BarrNigel BarrNigel 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 playing bass trombone.Since then Nigel has had a varied...
, bass trombone, euphonium - Michael NymanMichael NymanMichael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
, piano
- David Cunnigham, producer
- Michael J. Dutton, engineer
- Chris Brown, assistant engineer
- Philippe Garcia, assistant engineer
- Ann Bradbeer, art director
- David Smart, art director
- Don Mousseau, executive producer; artist representative for Michael Nyman
- Recorded at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - Mixed at Kitsch Studios, BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
- Mastering and editing at Transfermation and at Abbey Road
The album contains only one letter by Mozart, which is musically contiguous with the riddle after the song.
The Film
The film was shot at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, February 4, 1992, before a live audience nearly filling the room to capacity. It includes scenes from such films as Alain ResnaisAlain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
's Night and Fog and Alexander Dovzhenko
Alexander Dovzhenko
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter, film producer and director of Ukrainian descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin.- Biography :...
's Earth
Earth (1930 film)
Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning an insurrection by a community of farmers, following a hostile takeover by Kulak landowners...
.
- Ute LemperUte LemperUte Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
- Michael NymanMichael NymanMichael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
conductor, piano - Beverley DavidsonBeverley DavisonBeverley Davison is a British violin virtuoso, currently fronting an act she founded called Classical Cabaret: Hot Strings or "Classical Cabaret Duo" .-Biography:...
, violin - Madeleine MitchellMadeleine MitchellMadeleine Mitchell is a British violinist who has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in over forty countries in a wide repertoire. She has also been a member of The Fires of London and the Michael Nyman Band.-Biography:...
, violin - Ann MorfeeAnn MorfeeAnn Morfee, sometimes credited as "Anne Morphee", "Ann Morphy", or similar variants, is co-founder of Opus 20, and a member of the Michael Nyman Band since 1992....
, violin - Catherine Musker, viola
- Tony HinniganTony HinniganAnthony "Tony" Hinnigan is a musician from Glasgow. He is best known for his work with Michael Nyman , Ennio Morricone, and James Horner. He plays cello as well as Irish whistle and various Andean woodwind instruments...
, cello - Justin Pearson, cello
- Martin Elliott, bass guitar
- David Rix, clarinet and bass clarinet
- John HarleJohn HarleJohn Harle is an English saxophonist and composer.-Biography:John Harle - SaxophonistJohn Harle is one of the world’s leading saxophonists, and the most significant performer of the saxophone in the concert hall today...
, soprano and alto saxophone - David Roach, soprano and alto saxophone
- Andrew FindonAndrew FindonAndrew Findon is an English flautist and saxophonist. Educated at Harrow County School for Boys, he trained as an orchestral flautist, and served as principal flute of the National Youth Orchestra in the early 1970s and three years at the Royal College of Music...
tenor and baritone saxophone, flute, piccolo - Steve SidwellSteve Sidwell (musician)Steve Sidwell is a conductor, composer, and instrumentalist specialising in swing music. Renowned as an arranger and composer, Steve, has featured on numerous albums, television shows, advertising campaigns and films with his distinctive and innovative orchestrations and compositions.He is also a...
, trumpet - Marjory Dunn, horn
- Nigel BarrNigel BarrNigel 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 playing bass trombone.Since then Nigel has had a varied...
, bass trombone and euphonium
The film does not contain the "Ariel Songs", but includes an instrumental prelude, which is "Miranda" from Prospero's Books. It also includes a letter from Letters, Riddles and Writs.
The only cast credits on the film itself are to Ute Lemper and the Michael Nyman Band
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 members are credited (with Marjorie Dunn and Beverley Davison's names misspelled as above) in the order above in a booklet packaged with the videocasette and DVD. The DVD edition is coupled with Ute Lemper Chante Kurt Weill.
External links
- The Michael Nyman Songbook on IMDb