The Suit and the Photograph
Encyclopedia
The Suit and the Photograph is a 1998
album by Michael Nyman
with the Michael Nyman Band
, recorded in 1995. On this album, Nyman is the composer
, conductor
, and producer, and wrote the liner notes
. The album contains two works, String Quartet No. 4 and 3 Quartets. The album is named for its cover photograph by August Sander
, which Nyman had associated with the Michael Nyman Band since its inception in 1977. He cites a description of the photograph by John Berger
describing that the suits deform the working class
rural
men just enough to "undermine physical dignity." Ironically, both of the pieces on the album originated in Japan
. It is Nyman's second release on EMI and his 33rd in general, but is not designated part of a series, as EMI had done with Concertos
. Said Nyman of EMI, "I didn't excite them, and they didn't excite me." Nyman's only further releases on EMI would be the UK edition of Ravenous
, featuring remixes by William Orbit
, and The Actors
, both film score
s.
, a solo violin work, and the basis of Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks
. The piece was written in 1994-5 for Camilli Quartet (headed by former Michael Nyman Band member Elisabeth Perry), who first performed it on April 21, 1995, and ultimately dedicated to the memory of Alan Bush
, Nyman's composition teacher at the Royal Academy of Music
after his passing on October 31 of that year. The main theme of the sixth movement became the basis for "Virgin on the Roof" in Nyman's score for Carrington
, which in turn was based on the String Quartet No. 3 with which Christopher Hampton
had created a temp track
.
Pwyll ap Siôn notes that the viola
and second violin follow a different meter from that of the first violin. Essentially, Yamamoto Perpetuo was the basis only of the first violin's part in the Quartet, while the newly-composed material goes in completely new directions, even to not matching meter.
of Japan
. John Harle
and Elisabeth Perry joined a group of Japanese musicians at the Globe Theatre, Tokyo for its first performance July 15, 1994, conducted by Michael Nyman.
It is a multi-section, multi-tempoed single-movement work for a string quartet, saxophone quartet, and brass quartet. This piece also worked its way into the Carrington film score—the opening fanfare
became a leitmotif for Mark Gertler. The heart of the work is a soprano saxophone
chorale
, and the work closes with a brass chorale by a brass chorale.
On the album, the Camilli Quartet joins the Michael Nyman Band
for performance of the piece.
Michael Nyman Band
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
album 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...
with 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...
, recorded in 1995. On this album, Nyman is the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, and producer, and wrote the liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
. The album contains two works, String Quartet No. 4 and 3 Quartets. The album is named for its cover photograph by August Sander
August Sander
August Sander was a German portrait and documentary photographer. Sander's first book Face of our Time was published in 1929...
, which Nyman had associated with the Michael Nyman Band since its inception in 1977. He cites a description of the photograph by John Berger
John Berger
John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...
describing that the suits deform the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
men just enough to "undermine physical dignity." Ironically, both of the pieces on the album originated in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is Nyman's second release on EMI and his 33rd in general, but is not designated part of a series, as EMI had done with Concertos
Concertos (1997 album)
Concertos is the 31st album by Michael Nyman, released in 1997 featuring three concerti commissioned from Nyman, the Mazda-sponsored Double Concerto for Saxophone and Cello, featuring John Harle and Julian Lloyd Webber, the Harpsichord Concerto for Elisabeth Chojnacka, and the Concerto for Trombone...
. Said Nyman of EMI, "I didn't excite them, and they didn't excite me." Nyman's only further releases on EMI would be the UK edition of Ravenous
Ravenous
Ravenous is a 1999 horror film directed by Antonia Bird and starring Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle and Jeffrey Jones. The film revolves around cannibalism in 1840s California and some elements bear similarities to the story of the Donner Party and that of Alferd Packer...
, featuring remixes by William Orbit
William Orbit
William Orbit is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album Ray of Light. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums...
, and The Actors
The Actors
The Actors is a 2003 film written and directed by Conor McPherson and starring Dylan Moran and Michael Caine. In supporting roles are Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson and Lena Headey ....
, both film 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...
s.
String Quartet No. 4
The String Quartet No. 4 is based on Yamamoto PerpetuoMichael Nyman for Yohji Yamamoto
Michael Nyman for Yohji Yamamoto is volume 2 of Yohji Yamamoto's series of albums, The Show. The album features the solo violin work Yamamoto Perpetuo , which Nyman has since adapted into the String Quartet No...
, a solo violin work, and the basis of Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks
Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks
Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks is a 1998 album by the English Sinfonia conducted by Bramwell Tovey. The work, by Michael Nyman, is paired with The Protecting Veil by John Tavener featuring Josephine Knight on the cello...
. The piece was written in 1994-5 for Camilli Quartet (headed by former Michael Nyman Band member Elisabeth Perry), who first performed it on April 21, 1995, and ultimately dedicated to the memory of Alan Bush
Alan Bush
Alan Dudley Bush was a British composer and pianist. He was a committed socialist, and politics sometimes provided central themes in his music.-Personal life:...
, Nyman's composition teacher at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
after his passing on October 31 of that year. The main theme of the sixth movement became the basis for "Virgin on the Roof" in Nyman's score for Carrington
Carrington (film)
Carrington is a biographical film written and directed by Christopher Hampton about the life of the English painter Dora Carrington , who was known simply as "Carrington"...
, which in turn was based on the String Quartet No. 3 with which Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
had created a temp track
Temp track
A temp track is an existing piece of music or audio which is used in film production during the editing phase. It serves as a guideline for the mood or atmosphere the director is looking for in a scene....
.
Pwyll ap Siôn notes that the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and second violin follow a different meter from that of the first violin. Essentially, Yamamoto Perpetuo was the basis only of the first violin's part in the Quartet, while the newly-composed material goes in completely new directions, even to not matching meter.
3 Quartets
3 Quartets was commissioned by the Arion-Edo FoundationArion-Edo Foundation
■ EstablishmentSeptember 1985■ Mission1. Award and support young promising musicians2. Organize and sponsor music festival3. Organize and sponsor concerts and lectures regarding music4. Hold cultural exchange with other countries5...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. 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...
and Elisabeth Perry joined a group of Japanese musicians at the Globe Theatre, Tokyo for its first performance July 15, 1994, conducted by Michael Nyman.
It is a multi-section, multi-tempoed single-movement work for a string quartet, saxophone quartet, and brass quartet. This piece also worked its way into the Carrington film score—the opening fanfare
Fanfare
A Fanfare is a relatively short piece of music that is typically played by trumpets and other brass instruments often accompanied by percussion...
became a leitmotif for Mark Gertler. The heart of the work is a soprano saxophone
Soprano saxophone
The 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...
chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
, and the work closes with a brass chorale by a brass chorale.
On the album, the Camilli Quartet joins 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...
for performance of the piece.
Track listing
- I 3:36
- II 3:17
- III 2:28
- IV 6:19
- V 3:03
- VI 4:04
- VII 4:07
- VIII 2:24
- IX 3:39
- X 2:47
- XI 3:10
- XII 3:00
- 3 Quartets 14:24
Personnel
Camilli Quartet- Elisabeth Perry, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Rachel Browne, violin
- Prunella Pacey, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Melissa Phelps, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
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...
- Elisabeth Perry, violin
- Rachel Browne, violin
- Prunella Pacey, viola
- Melissa Phelps, cello
- 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 saxophoneSoprano 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... - David Roach, soprano and 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...
s - Simon Haram, tenor saxophoneTenor 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...
- 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 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...
- Nigel Gomm, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s 1 and 2 - David LeeDave Lee (horn player)David Lee is currently solo horn with the Michael Nyman Band. He has held principal positions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Opera House Orchestra....
, hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player .... - Andrew Fawbert, bass trombone
- conducted by 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...
- Producers: Michael Nyman & Michael J. Dutton
- Balance engineer: Michael J. Dutton
- Front cover: August SanderAugust SanderAugust Sander was a German portrait and documentary photographer. Sander's first book Face of our Time was published in 1929...
, Bauernkapelle, Westerwald, c. 1913 (c) Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur - August Sander Archiv, Köln; DACS, London, 1998 - Publisher: Chester Music Ltd/Michael Nyman Ltd
- Michael Nyman management by Susan Read
- Special thanks to Michael J. Dutton, Nigel Barr, Liz Perry, John BergerJohn BergerJohn Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...