Michael Nyman Band

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, came into being in 1976 as a street band for a production of Il Campiello by Carlo Goldoni, directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic in London. When the production ended, the musicians did not want to part. So their leader, Michael Nyman, began writing music for them, starting with In Re Don Giovanni. The line-up varied, and whoever played on an album was often listed as a permanent member.

Music and breakthrough

The first album on a professional label was Michael Nyman from 1981, mainly with music for the early films of Peter Greenaway. Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract, Drowning by Numbers and The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover formed the core of their work in the 1980s, alongside The Kiss and Other Movements. The album The Essential Michael Nyman Band from 1992 looks like a compilation, but contains concert versions of film pieces that had been revised over many years. In 1993 the band played together with an orchestra for the first time, in MGV: Musique à Grand Vitesse, written for the opening of a TGV line. Later soundtracks such as Practical Magic, Ravenous, The End of the Affair and The Libertine were released under the name of the group or of the Michael Nyman Orchestra. Songbook was also released in 1991 and The Suit and the Photograph in 1998.

Influence

The group played Nyman's music in a distinctive, amplified sound, with strings, saxophones and a driving rhythm, bringing minimal music out of the concert hall. Members such as John Harle and Alexander Balanescu later made albums of their own.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1991Songbook
• 1998The Suit and the Photograph
• 2002String Quartets 2, 3 & 4 / If & Why
• 2006Six Celan Songs / The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi

In School of Rock

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