Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. The Piano Concerto: The Beach - Michael Nyman
2. The Piano Concerto: The Woods - Michael Nyman
3. The Piano Concerto:: The Hut - Michael Nyman
4. The Piano Concerto: The Release - Michael Nyman
5. MGV: 1st Region - Michael Nyman
6. MGV: 2nd Region - Michael Nyman
7. MGV: 3rd Region - Michael Nyman
8. MGV: 4th Region - Michael Nyman
9. MGV: 5th Region - Michael Nyman

Disc 2:

1. Hook - Various Artists
2. Terminal Velocity: The Archangel Trip - Various Artists
3. Monday & Tuesday: Tuesday (Excerpt) - Various Artists
4. Sextet (Excerpt) - Various Artists
5. Time Will Pronounce: For John Cage - Various Artists
6. Totus Tuus, Op. 60 - Various Artists
7. Symphony In Waves: I. Continous Wave (Excerpt) - Various Artists
8. String Quartet No.3 'The Songlines': III. The Standing Dance - Various Artists
9. Saxophone Concerto (Excerpt From The First Movement) - Various Artists
10. High Life For Strings - Various Artists
11. Yo Shakespeare (Excerpt) - Various Artists
12. Desert of Roses - Act Two: Look Into My Eyes - Various Artists
13. Cud (Excerpt) - Various Artists
14. Greek (Excerpt From Act 1 : Scene 4) - Various Artists
15. The Draughtman's Contract: An Eye For Optical Theory - Various Artists
16. Hexada - Various Artists
17. Four Parables - Various Artists

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25128 in Music
• Released on: 1994-03-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 59 minutes

Customer Reviews

Two Gems
Here are two of Nyman's finest. The Piano Concerto contains sufficient new material to recommend it to owners of the original soundtrack. Dark and thrilling, this is an amazing work. But MGV is the standout work. Harking back to Nyman's '80s heyday (especially his work with Peter Greenaway) - tight and punchy, this is pure Nyman and is a must for any fan.

Amazing MGV, Lacklustre Piano Concerto
This CD contains two of my favourite Michael Nyman works. Of these,MGV--the reason I bought the CD--benefits a wonderful work with anexcellent performance: truly, no Michael Nyman fan should be without thisCD for that reason. Musique A Grande Vitesse, as the title suggests, is aheartpoundingly fast work, culminating in an amazing finale which, to mymind, is one of Nyman's finest creations. However, if you are looking fora recording of The Piano Concerto, look instead for the Naxos recordingwith John Lenehan and the Ulster Orchestra, which is considerably moreenjoyable and vastly superior.

Superb
It's a disc of two halves (unless you bought it when it came out, in which case it came with a promotional CD of work by other Argo artists) - the first half is an orchestral reworking of Nyman's music for 'The Piano', which was riding high in the classical charts at the time, and the second half is an original composition called 'MGV - Musique a Grand Vitesse', or 'high-speed music'. Which is an apt description, as it belts along at a fair old lick, like a classical equivalent of techno music. Underscored with an insistent dah-DAH-dah-DAH pulse it builds up, layer after layer, occasionally breaking down and building up into new forms before ending with what appears to be acoustic techno. It's on a larger scale than Nyman's usual work and is enormous fun, too; it's hard not to smile at the insane energy it displays.
In comparison the music from The Piano is much gentler and more meditative, and it would be best to listen to it afterwards in order to relax.