The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Michael NymanEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Import, Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2006-06-05
Music Label: EMI Import
Soundtracks:
- Memorial
- Miserere Paraphrase
- Book Depository
- Coupling
- Miserere
Free Music Notes for The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Free Music Review: Melancholy orchestral pieces
Hit: 4 Stars
When I saw this great movie many years ago, the music was often compelling and hypnotic...really engrossing you in the imagery of this film. The picture and the movie are quite stark in contrast...the former is confronting and disturbing, whilst the latter is generally peaceful and relaxing. Composer Michael Nyman has his own particular style...when I heard the pop song "Your woman" by White Town, I thought that there was definitely a Nyman-esque element to the music. I may want to check out Nyman's score for another Greenaway movie, "A zed and two noughts" which also sounded interesting. Anyway, this album is good to chill out to, apart from the opening track. May have dozed off for a bit during one listen, but isn't that what chill out music should do for you? I replaced my original purchase because the liner notes were bent. Maybe just that particular release had some distortion on the first track...don't think my replacement had that. The final track on my replacement cd also had two seconds less displayed on the lcd for running time. Second track listed as one second shorter than my original purchase too. Think that my replacement was the newest release of this title...not sure how substantive these differences are though. Could give this cd up to 85/100.
The tracks:
Memorial - 12:07 minutes long. Has that Michael Nyman feel right from the start. Perhaps has a hint of Vivaldi to it as well? A processional, repetitive sounding track with throbbing violins. This is the piece which I found hypnotic watching the movie and made me want to listen to this album. The brass section on this piece really hits those brown notes, if you know what I mean. Melodic violins run throughout the piece. Sometimes you hear a melodic trumpet part, I think. Outro is a tad carnivalesque. There is probably a boy soprano vocalising on this track...or maybe it's a violin...not 100% sure!
Miserere paraphrase - 5:43. Melancholic, plaintive violin hitting high notes. Brooding piano notes, heavy and light. Percussive piano at times too. Has some folk style fiddle. Original purchase listed this as running 5:44 minutes long.
Book depositary - 5:41. Middling brass instruments. Violin, I think, is similar to classical compositions...perhaps Pachabel or Vivaldi at times. Violin hits the high notes and there is a low down brass instrument...tuba perhaps. Pleasantly mellow sound, but the low down brass instrument sounds like it is snoring! A slow piece. Abrupt ending.
Coupling - 5:17. Naturally follows on from the last piece, it seems. Violins, percussive piano playing. Low end brass. Moody but melodic. A little bit serene, yet pensive, yet sombrely aristocratic yet...(I'm sounding like Kenny Everett's comical critic Quentin Pose here!). Odd sounding piano here, perhaps...or maybe it's some other stringed instrument.
Misere - 11:32. Unaccompanied choral piece. Eerie, with an ethereal sounding boy soprano who sings in ear-piercing English. Adult males with lower voices sing in a language which may be Latin...dunno. There are female singers too. Religious lyrics...a sinner seeks the grace of God. Nice harmonies and counter-harmonies...pretty at times. The adults sing in English and the other language.
To check out:
Michael Nyman - A zed and two noughts. Another collaboration (soundtrack) with film maker Peter Greenaway.
Excalibur - soundtrack to the great English movie. Uses existing compositions, perhaps entirely. Does have that stately sound that you do get in this Nyman cd though.
Pachelbel - Canon. A hypnotic classical piece.
Vivaldi - The four seasons. Classical music...jaunty to sombre.
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