# Favourite Orchestral Work by Michael Nyman?



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

My favourite is MGV (Musique à Grand Vitesse) for Michael Nyman Band and orchestra. It was composed for the opening of the TGV North-European Paris-Lille line. Here are program notices from the composer:



> MGV runs continuously but was conceived as an abstract, imaginary journey; or rather five inter-connected journeys, each ending with a slow, mainly stepwise melody which is only heard in its 'genuine' form when the piece reaches its destination. The thematic 'transformation' is a key to MGV as a whole, where musical ideas- rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, motivic, textural - constantly change their identity as they pass through different musical 'environments'. For instance the opening bars establish both a recurrent rhythmic principle - 9, 11, or 13-beat rhythmic cycles heard against a regular 8 - and a harmonic process - chord sequences (mainly over C and E) which have the note E in common. (Coincidentally, MGV begins in C and ends in E). A later scalic, syncopated figure (again first heard over C, E and A) begins the second section, featuring brass, in D flat. And so on: the topography of MGV should be experienced without reference to planning, description or timetables. Tempo changes, unpredictable slowings down, bear no logical relation to the high speed of the Paris-Lille journey, while the temptation to treat MGV as a concerto grosso, with the Michael Nyman band as the ripieno, was resisted: more suitably the Band (amplified in live performance) lays down the tracks on which MGV runs.


Here's Region 1 from MGV:






What I love about this piece is the constant forward driving rhythms and colourful orchestration. This work is constantly moving through each idea and always keeps the listener's attention for the twenty-seven or so minutes of its duration. It never gets boring! For two months last year it was the only thing I listened to. 

So that's my favourite. What's yours?

CoAG :tiphat:


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