MOVIE MUSIC UK

THROWBACK THIRTY

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1993, The Piano is a period romantic drama directed by Jane Campion. The story is set in the mid-19th century and follows a mute Scottish woman named Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), who has been sold into an arranged marriage to a New Zealand frontiersman, Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill), and shipped off to the other side of the world. Ada communicates her feelings and emotions mainly by signing and playing her beloved piano, with her young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) serving as her sign language interpreter. Ada’s new life on the edge of civilization is full of struggles and hardships – not least because her husband treats her cruelly – but things begin to change when she meets and develops a growing attraction for Baines (Harvey Keitel), a local laborer who desires her piano. As Ada becomes increasingly drawn to Baines, a complex and forbidden romantic relationship develops between them, which threatens the lives of all involved.

The film was lauded for its exploration of several important themes – desire, communication, and the power of music – with Ada’s piano serving as a central symbol throughout the narrative. It was an enormous critical success, winning the Palme d’Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival (making Campion the first female director to ever receive this award), and also winning three Academy Awards – Best Actress for Hunter, Best Supporting Actress for Paquin, and Best Original Screenplay for Campion. In addition to its acting, writing, and visual magnificence, one of the other significantly lauded aspects of The Piano was its score, written by British composer Michael Nyman.

Michael Nyman is an interesting fellow. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music until 1967, focusing on piano and seventeenth-century baroque music, and then embarked on a multi-faceted career in music, writing libretti for operas, writing music for theater productions, performing an eclectic repertoire with his own ensemble The Michael Nyman Band, and writing operas and classical pieces of his own, most of which were very popular within the classical music world. Nyman even worked as a music critic and journalist in the early 1970s, and is generally credited with inventing the phrase ‘minimalism’ in relation to music in an article he wrote about the English composer Cornelius Cardew. Nyman began writing music for European art films in the 1970s, and eventually developed an enduring relationship with director Peter Greenaway, for whom he wrote scores such as The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), A Zed & Two Noughts (1985), Drowning by Numbers (1988), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), and Prospero’s Books (1991) – all excellent scores, but which did not really enjoy an audience outside the art house crowd.

Ultimately, The Piano would be the score that truly introduced Nyman to international audiences, and gave him the enormous mainstream popularity that continues to this day. Nyman’s score is absolutely vital to the success of the film, an essential character which guides the audience through Ada’s emotional journey, and acts as the voice we cannot hear due to her muteness. It’s also very musically compelling, and is considered now to be perhaps the quintessential Michael Nyman score. It contains all the musical hallmarks that make Nyman’s music so unique – the unusual juxtaposition of ancient and contemporary compositional techniques, the characteristic rhythmic devices and minimalist writing styles, and the wholly unique orchestrations, which in this instance feature prominent saxophones amid more traditional strings and pianos.

The score is performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra with Michael Nyman Band members John Harle, David Roach, and Andrew Findon performing the prominent saxophone work, and Nyman himself performing the piano parts. The score is based around several prominent main themes, the first and most important of which is “The Heart Asks Pleasure First,” which serves as a musical reflection of Ada, and is a simple yet poignant piano piece which gradually establishes itself as Ada’s voice throughout the film, expressing her deepest emotions and desires. Nyman based the theme on a traditional Scottish fiddle tune, “Lord Balgownie’s Favourite,” in an acknowledgement of Ada’s heritage, but Nyman’s effortlessly elegant and refined piano arrangement gives the theme a melancholic, but somehow mystical feeling. Similarly, the repetitive, minimalist structure of the music mirrors Ada’s constrained life and her yearning for freedom and emotional connection with Baines. This theme has become perhaps the most famous and beloved theme in Nyman’s repertoire, and it’s not difficult to see why; it’s gorgeous.

The theme recurs frequently throughout the score, notably in “The Promise,” which underscores the evolving relationship between Ada and Baines, and where the addition of beautiful string harmonies carry a sense of longing and intimacy, as if Baines’s presence has allowed the stifling confines of Ada’s life to melt away. Later in “Deep into the Forest” it becomes almost unrecognizable, deconstructed to its chords and arranged as a slow and mournful dirge, before returning to its more familiar sound in the second half, albeit backed by saxophones and occasionally quite frantic strings. Then in “The Sacrifice” Nyman slows the tempo right down so that the tone of the melody is one of reflection and introspection.

A secondary theme for Ada is introduced in “Big My Secret,” a bucolic and expressive identity which is explored mostly on solo piano, and develops a lovely, rich, classical atmosphere. This idea returns later in “The Scent of Love,” and is heard mostly in scenes related to the relationship between Ada and Baines; again, it is gorgeously rendered as an effortlessly romantic classical piano piece that eventually melts into a lush string quartet. Interestingly, both “A Bed of Ferns” and “Lost and Found” contain a gorgeous melody for soprano saxophone and strings that initially sounds tender and intimate, but then in the second cue slowly and cleverly morphs into something a little anguished and twisted. It actually reminds me of some of Ennio Morricone’s early work, and that is entirely intended to be a complement. In context, this theme accompanies some of the more erotic moments between Ada and Baines, and the tonal shifts really enhance the forbidden nature of their encounters.

Other cues of note include the haunting melodies and slow, repetitive motifs of cues like “To the Edge of the Earth,” which allow the stunning landscape shots of New Zealand to take on a timeless, mystical quality of eerie beauty. Later cues like “A Wild and Distant Shore” place the same theme into a more expansive orchestral setting and accompany it with lush, slightly tempestuous-sounding string passages that make the locale seem rugged, untamed, perhaps even a touch dangerous. “Here to There” is a series of jaunty variations on the main theme arranged for a saxophone trio that couldn’t be more idiosyncratically Nymanesque if it tried. “The Fling” is a fun and cheerful solo piano adaptation of a folk-like tune. I also love the playful string textures that dance around within the otherwise dreamy and ephemeral sounds of “Little Impulse,” which give the cue a slightly unorthodox emotional tone.

There is a sense of darkness and intense internal anguish in the dramatic development of “I Clipped Your Wing ,” which underscores the traumatic scene where Alisdair – having discovered the truth of Ada and Baines’s relationship – cruelly cuts off Ada’s index finger with an axe, depriving her of the ability to play the piano. Finally, “Dreams of a Journey” ends the score with a piece that blends both the main theme and the theme for Ada and Baines together as Ada – having sacrificed her beloved piano to the murky depths of the ocean, and faked her own drowning, in order to escape from Alisdair – is finally in a relationship with a man who loves her, and has a happy daughter to boot. Nyman’s final statements of the themes have a palpable sense of relief, and are full of warm, flowing string layers, and ebullient complementary pianos.

Michael Nyman was nominated for numerous awards for The Piano; he lost the Golden Globe Award to Kitaro’s score for Heaven & Earth, and lost the BAFTA Award to Schindler’s List, but shockingly he was entirely overlooked at the Oscars, which was a quite stunning omission considering the importance of the music to the film, and the overall acclaim the film received elsewhere via the eight other nominations. This was all compounded by the fact that the soundtrack album became, and remains, one of the best-selling ‘classical crossover’ albums in history, with 500,000 certified unit sales and gold album status in the United States, plus an additional 100,000 certified unit sales in the UK.

All this is to say that The Piano is a landmark score, and is immensely popular with the general public. However, it’s also important to point out that The Piano is an outstanding film score, which uses its beautiful piano performances and memorable thematic content to support the story, create a compelling atmosphere, and provide an important voice for a central character who uses the piano as a replacement for her own human one. Anyone who has yet to delve into Michael Nyman’s musical world should start here, as it’s an easily-digestible and enormously enjoyable distillation of everything that makes him the unique artist that he is.

Buy the Piano soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• To the Edge of the Earth (4:06)
• Big My Secret (2:51)
• A Wild and Distant Shore (5:50)
• The Heart Asks Pleasure First (1:33)
• Here to There (1:02)
• The Promise (4:14)
• A Bed of Ferns (0:46)
• The Fling (1:28)
• The Scent of Love (4:16)
• Deep into the Forest (2:58)
• The Mood That Passes Through You (1:13)
• Lost and Found (2:24)
• The Embrace (2:36)
• Little Impulse (2:11)
• The Sacrifice (2:46)
• I Clipped Your Wing (4:34)
• The Wounded (2:26)
• All Imperfect Things (4:03)
• Dreams of a Journey (5:30)
• The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise (Edit) (3:12)

Running Time: 60 minutes 40 seconds

Virgin Records 88274-2 (1993)

Music composed and conducted Michael Nyman . Performed by The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and The Michael Nyman Band. Orchestrations by Michael Nyman. Featured musical soloists Michael Nyman, John Harle, David Roach and Andrew Findon. Recorded and mixed by Michael Dutton and Malcolm Luker. Edited by XXXX. Album produced by Michael Nyman.