The Piano (soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
The Piano is the original soundtrack
, on the Virgin Records
label, of the 1993
Academy Award-winning film
The Piano
. The original score
was composed by Michael Nyman
and is his twentieth album release. Despite being called a "soundtrack", this is a partial score re-recording, as Nyman himself also performs the piano on the album (whereas the film version is performed by lead actress Holly Hunter
). The music is performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Nyman with Michael Nyman Band
members John Harle
, David Roach and Andrew Findon
performing the prominent saxophone
work.
The album was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
(but lost to the score of Heaven & Earth
) and the BAFTA Award for Best Score (lost to the score of Schindler's List
).
The album design and illustration are by Dave McKean
.
The music has been re-recorded numerous times by different artists, and became the basis of Nyman's 1994 composition, The Piano Concerto which debuted in 1994
. Perhaps the most unusual rerecording is by conductor Bill Broughton and the Orchestra of the Americas--an orchestral version sans piano. "Here to There", a saxophone solo, has become something of a staple for contemporary classical saxophonists.
Two additional solo piano pieces, "The Attraction of the Peddling Ankle", which is based on Frédéric Chopin
's Mazurka
Op. 7/i, and "Deep Sleep Playing" are featured in the film, the former in scenes 51, 57, and 88, and the latter in scene 100. While not on the album, they are included in the published sheet music
.
Several of the pieces from the soundtrack were used in Alexander McQueen's Fall/Winter 2006 fashion show.
The Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish
made a cover
of "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" for the album Dark Passion Play
, but they did not release it. On December 15, 2009, Jarmo Lautamäki (Member of Nightwish crew) confirmed on his facebook page that Nyman finally gave his permission to release the cover. Dates and details of the release are unknown.
In December 2010 Italian rock noir
band Belladonna
release "Let There Be Light", a single written in collaboration with Michael Nyman and based on "The Heart Asks Pleasure First". Michael Nyman himself plays piano on the track.
Music published by Michael Nyman Ltd./Chester Music Ltd.
with
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, on the Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
label, of the 1993
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
Academy Award-winning film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
The Piano
The Piano
The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...
. The original score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was composed 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...
and is his twentieth album release. Despite being called a "soundtrack", this is a partial score re-recording, as Nyman himself also performs the piano on the album (whereas the film version is performed by lead actress Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen...
). The music is performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
The Münchner Philharmoniker is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's three principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra...
conducted by Nyman with 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...
members John Harle
John Harle
John 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...
, David Roach and Andrew Findon
Andrew Findon
Andrew 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...
performing the prominent saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
work.
The album was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947...
(but lost to the score of Heaven & Earth
Heaven & Earth (soundtrack)
Heaven & Earth is the official soundtrack of the 1993 Golden Globe-winning film by the same name starring Tommy Lee Jones, Haing S. Ngor, Joan Chen and Hiep Thi Le. The original score was composed by Kitaro....
) and the BAFTA Award for Best Score (lost to the score of Schindler's List
Schindler's List (soundtrack)
Schindler's List is the original soundtrack, on the MCA label, of the 1993 film Schindler's List starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes and Caroline Goodall...
).
The album design and illustration are by Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
.
Track listing
- "To the Edge of the Earth" – 4:06
- "Big My Secret" – 2:51
- "A Wild and Distant Shore" – 5:50
- "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" – 1:33
- "Here to There" – 1:02
- "The Promise" – 4:14
- "A Bed of Ferns" – 0:46
- "The Fling" – 1:28
- "The Scent of Love" – 4:16
- "Deep Into the Forest" – 2:58
- "The Mood That Passes Through You" – 1:13
- "Lost and Found" – 2:24
- "The Embrace" – 2:36
- "Little Impulse" – 2:11
- "The Sacrifice" – 2:46
- "I Clipped Your Wing" – 4:34
- "The Wounded" – 2:26
- "All Imperfect Things" – 4:03
- "Dreams of a Journey" – 5:30
- "The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise" (Edit) – 3:11 [not included on the American release until the remastered version in 2004, but included on the British version in the initial release]
The music has been re-recorded numerous times by different artists, and became the basis of Nyman's 1994 composition, The Piano Concerto which debuted in 1994
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
. Perhaps the most unusual rerecording is by conductor Bill Broughton and the Orchestra of the Americas--an orchestral version sans piano. "Here to There", a saxophone solo, has become something of a staple for contemporary classical saxophonists.
Two additional solo piano pieces, "The Attraction of the Peddling Ankle", which is based on Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Mazurka
Mazurka
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...
Op. 7/i, and "Deep Sleep Playing" are featured in the film, the former in scenes 51, 57, and 88, and the latter in scene 100. While not on the album, they are included in the published sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
.
Several of the pieces from the soundtrack were used in Alexander McQueen's Fall/Winter 2006 fashion show.
The Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the...
made a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" for the album Dark Passion Play
Dark Passion Play
Dark Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 26 September, 2007 in Finland, 28 September in Europe and 2 October 2007 in the United States. It was the first Nightwish album with the band's current lead singer, Anette Olzon, and the first album...
, but they did not release it. On December 15, 2009, Jarmo Lautamäki (Member of Nightwish crew) confirmed on his facebook page that Nyman finally gave his permission to release the cover. Dates and details of the release are unknown.
In December 2010 Italian rock noir
Rock noir
Rock noir is a term used to identify a sub-genre of rock characterized by dramatic performances of theatrically rendered lyrical storytelling. It was originated by Italian band Belladonna, whose debut album Metaphysical Attraction is the first full-length Rock noir album ever released...
band Belladonna
Belladonna
Belladonna, from the Italian expression "bella donna" meaning "beautiful lady", may refer to:-Plants:* Atropa belladonna or belladonna or deadly nightshade, a perennial herbaceous plant...
release "Let There Be Light", a single written in collaboration with Michael Nyman and based on "The Heart Asks Pleasure First". Michael Nyman himself plays piano on the track.
Personnel
Music composed, arranged, conducted and produced by Michael NymanMichael 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...
Music published by Michael Nyman Ltd./Chester Music Ltd.
- Members of the Munich Philharmonic OrchestraMunich Philharmonic OrchestraThe Münchner Philharmoniker is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's three principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra...
with
- 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...
, sopranoSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
, alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions... - David Roach, soprano, alto axophone
- 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...
, tenorTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, alto fluteAlto fluteThe alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range... - Michael Nyman, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Conducted by Michael Nyman
- Produced by Michael Nyman
- Engineer: Michael J. Dutton
- Executive Engineer: Malcolm Luker
- Assistant Engineer: Jamie Luker
- Recorded at Arco Studios, MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
- Mixed and edited 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...
- Post-production at Abbey RoadAbbey 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...
- Design and illustrationIllustrationAn illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
by Dave McKeanDave McKeanDavid McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician.... - PhotographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
by Grant Matthews and Polly WalkerPolly WalkerPolly Walker is an English actress.- Early life :Walker was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England. Her first school was Silverdale Preparatory West Acton, London. At 16, Walker graduated from Ballet Rambert School in Twickenham, began her career as a dancer, but had to abandon dancing after a leg... - Artist representative for Michael Nyman: 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...