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Michael Nyman Band PDF Print E-mail
mn-band.jpgThe Michael Nyman Band was formed from the on-stage band that performed Michael Nyman’s score for Goldoni’s Campiello in the opening productions on the Olivier Theatre of the National Theatre in October 1976.
This imaginary Venetian street band used uniquely early music and folk instruments alongside modern instruments, so that rebecs and curtals were combined with saxophone and banjo to produce as loud a sound as possible without resorting to amplification.
This group formed the basis of the Campiello Band which began performing in the National Theatre foyer in 1977, and for which Michael Nyman wrote In Re Don Giovanni which is included on both the Michael Nyman and Michael Nyman… Live albums. 
When - for various reasons - the early music instruments were replaced by modern equivalents, the Campiello Band became the amplified Michael Nyman Band with the now "standard" line-up of string quartet, saxophones, trumpet, horn, bass trombone, bass guitar and piano. 
Repertoire includes music from the film scores of: The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), A Zed and Two Noughts (1985), Drowning by Numbers (1987) Prospero’s Books (1990), Gattaca (1997), Ravenous (1999), Wonderland (1999), The End of the Affair (1999), The Claim (2000), 24 Hours In The Life Of A Woman (2003), The Actors (2003) and Nathalie (2003), 9 Songs (2004) The Libertine (2005) and A Cock and Bull Story (2005); SANGAM, a joint project between Indian master musicians (U Shrinivas, Rajan and Sarjan Misra); MGV, The dynamic piece, that places the band in a full orchestral context; 3 Quartets, the Michael Nyman Band is modified by the addition of an extra saxophone and trumpet.
As Audio Visual Projects: The Commissar Vanishes (45 mins), an audio-visual event based on the original photographs uncovered by David King in the Soviet Union. A shocking visual presentation reveals how Stalin’s regime of fear drove people, including the great Constructivist artist Rodchenko, to censor their personal collections of photographs and books.
The Man with a Movie Camera (60 mins), Dziga Vertov’s silent film classic from 1929 combined with Michael Nyman’s live music turns the experimental film into an acoustic poem.
A Propos de Nice (23 mins) Jean Vigo‘s Silent film from the 1930s depicting the sunny seaside town of Nice. Vigo contrasts the wealthy elite with the poor working class with some brilliant satirical touches.
Manhatta (10 mins) Charles Sheeler’s silent film of the jazz age, lacing together images of inter-way Manhattan with the projected words of Walt Whitman.