Michael Nyman - Memorial (1985) - original concert version

The piece famous for its use throughout Peter Greenaway’s film ’The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and Her Lover’ originated in this six-part concert work composed by Michael Nyman on a commission from the Festival d’été de Seine Maritime. On May 29th 1985, whilst in the process of finishing the work, Nyman witnessed on television the Heysel Stadium disaster in which 39 football fans died and 600 more injured during a riot in the stands between supporters of the Liverpool and Juventus clubs. The work was subsequently titled ’Memorial’ in dedication to the victims of the tragedy. It received its one and only complete performance at a disused power plant west of Rouen, France two weeks later. In lieu of any subsequent performances, Nyman dismantled the work: the striking third movement based on Henry Purcell’s bass aria ’What Power art thou, who from below...’ from King Arthur was used in the Greenaway film, whilst parts of the first, second, and fourth movements became the instrumental backing for a setting of Art