British composer Michael Nyman makes a close connection between concert music and theatre or film music. Nymans String Quartet no. 4 is based on the extensive solo violin work Yamamoto Perpetuo and is closely connected to Scottish folk music. But other works of his have also left their mark on this quartet, such as the piano piece Virgin on the Roof, which is part of the soundtrack for the film biography about Dora Carrington by Christopher Hampton.
In Re Don Giovanni was originally composed for Nymans own band in 1977 and later, in the Mozart Year 1991, arranged for string quartet. The work refers to the well-known ‘catalogue song’ by Leperello from Don Giovanni.
The Miserere Parafrase comes from the movie The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover by Peter Greenaway from 1989.
Michael Nyman (1944) – String Quartet no. 4 (1995)
The Smith Quartet
CD: Michael Nyman Records
Michael Nyman (1944) – In Re Don Giovanni (1977)
Lyric Quartet
CD: Decca
Michael Nyman (1944) – Miserere Paraphrase (1989/91)
Lyric Quartet
CD: Decca
