The Piano (soundtrack)

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 main theme is based on a traditional Scottish melody titled "Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa".^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"To the Edge of the Earth"	4:06
2.	"Big My Secret"	2:51
3.	"A Wild and Distant Shore"	5:50
4.	"The Heart Asks Pleasure First^[2]"	1:33
5.	"Here to There"	1:02
6.	"The Promise"	4:14
7.	"A Bed of Ferns"	0:46
8.	"The Fling"	1:28
9.	"The Scent of Love"	4:16
10.	"Deep into the Forest"	2:58
11.	"The Mood That Passes Through You"	1:13
12.	"Lost and Found"	2:24
13.	"The Embrace"	2:36
14.	"Little Impulse"	2:11
15.	"The Sacrifice"	2:46
16.	"I Clipped Your Wing"	4:34
17.	"The Wounded"	2:26
18.	"All Imperfect Things"	4:03
19.	"Dreams of a Journey"	5:30
20.	"The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise" (Edit)	3:11

Note: Track 20 (The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise) was 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. 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 Pedalling 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 their album Dark Passion Play that includes lyrics written by Nightwish composer and keyboardist, Tuomas Holopainen, but the band did not receive permission to release it on time for the album's release. However, the song was still played live via playback as the outro to the final concert of the Dark Passion Play World Tour held in Helsinki, Finland on 19 September 2009.^[3] On 15 December 2009, Jarmo Lautamäki, a Nightwish crew member, confirmed on his Facebook page that Nyman finally gave permission to release the cover. It was released on 2 March 2012 as a B-side on the single The Crow, the Owl and the Dove.

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.^[4]

Personnel

Music composed, arranged, conducted and produced by Michael Nyman

Music published by Michael Nyman Ltd./Chester Music Ltd.

Members of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra

with

John Harle, soprano, alto saxophone
David Roach, soprano, alto axophone
Andrew Findon, tenor, baritone saxophone, flute, alto flute
Michael Nyman, piano
Conducted by Michael Nyman
Produced by Michael Nyman
Engineer: Michael J. Dutton
Executive Engineer: Malcolm Luker
Assistant Engineer: Jamie Luker
Recorded at Arco Studios, Munich
Mixed and edited at Kitsch Studios, Brussels
Post-production at Abbey Road
Design and illustration by Dave McKean
Photography by Grant Matthews and Polly Walker
Artist representative for Michael Nyman: Nigel Barr

The main theme in The Piano is based entirely on a traditional Scottish melody titled "Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa".^[1]

References

1 2 Christie, Nicola (8 April 2011). "Mark Ravenhill and Michael Nyman – Take your seats for jazzed-up Monteverdi". The Independent. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
↑ First verse of Emily Dickinson's poem contained in Complete Poems (1924). See "Verse > Emily Dickinson > Complete Poems > I. Life > 9. "The heart asks pleasure first"". bartleby. Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
↑ "Nightwish - Outro: The Heart Asks Pleasure First (@ Hartwall)". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
↑ "Press Coverage". Michael Nyman. Retrieved 2015-08-24.

Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman Band - current members	Gabrielle Lester Catherine Thompson Kate Musker Tony Hinnigan David Roach Simon Haram Andrew Findon Nigel Barr Dave Lee Steve Sidwell Martin Elliott Sarah Leonard

Former members and others	Alexander Bălănescu John Harle Chris Laurence Ann Morfee Jonathan Carney Madeleine Mitchell Jamie Talbot Georgina Born Marjorie Dunn Beverley Davison Barry Guy John Greaves Andrew Shulman Michael Thompson Richard Watkins John Metcalfe Christian Forshaw Ute Lemper Marie Angel Hilary Summers Omar Ebrahim David Cunningham Molly Nyman

Nyman-produced albums	Decay Music 'The Masterwork' Award Winning Fish-Knife Michael Nyman The Draughtsman's Contract The Cold Room The Kiss and Other Movements A Zed & Two Noughts And Do They Do/Zoo Caprices The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Drowning by Numbers La Traversée de Paris The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover Out of the Ruins La Sept String Quartets 1–3 Prospero's Books The Michael Nyman Songbook The Hairdresser's Husband The Essential Michael Nyman Band Time Will Pronounce The Piano Michael Nyman for Yohji Yamamoto The Piano Concerto/MGV À la folie Live Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs Carrington The Diary of Anne Frank After Extra Time The Ogre Enemy Zero Concertos Gattaca The Suit and the Photograph Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks Practical Magic Ravenous Wonderland The Commissar Vanishes Nabbie's Love The End of the Affair The Claim String Quartets 2, 3 & 4/If & Why Facing Goya 24 Heures de la vie d'une femme Sangam: Michael Nyman Meets Indian Masters The Actors Man and Boy: Dada The Piano Sings The Libertine The Composer's Cut Series Vol. I: The Draughtsman's Contract The Composer's Cut Series Vol. II: Nyman/Greenaway Revisited The Composer's Cut Series Vol. III: The Piano Six Celan Songs • The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi Acts of Beauty • Exit no Exit Nyman Brass Love Counts Mozart 252 8 Lust Songs: I Sonetti Lussuriosi The Glare Acoustic Accordions Collections The Composer's Cut Series Vol. IV: Vertov Sounds

Albums to which Nyman contributed (as composer and/or performer)	Recent English Experimental Music The Pavilion of Dreams From The Kitchen Archives - New Music New York 1979 The Sensual World Saxophone Works John Harle's Saxophone Songbook Piano Circus The Contemporary Trumpet Taking a Line for a Second Walk Plus que Tango Visions First & Foremost An Eye for a Difference Pick It Up Meeting Point: The Saxophone Concertos of Nyman, Heath and Torke Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward Generation Sex The Golden Section Faces Ahn-Plugged Groovebox Moving On

Singles/EPs	Mozart/Webern The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise Anohito no Waltz In Re Don Giovanni Enemy Zero Piano Sketches

Compilations	Michael Nyman Pure Moods The Very Best of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980–2001 Man on Wire

Additional operas	Tristram Shandy Letters, Riddles and Writs Vital Statistics La Princesse de Milan Prologue to Dido and Aeneas

Unreleased film scores	Vertical Features Remake The Falls Brimstone and Treacle Ballet Mécanique Monsieur Hire Mesmer Katie and Orbie Titch Act Without Words I Man with a Movie Camera Nathalie... À propos de Nice A Cock and Bull Story

Major individual compositions	Memorial MGV

Les Disques du Crépuscule Minimalist music Systems music

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