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Nov 4, 2023 · From Studio Halle, 2010: The Michael Nyman Band performs "An Eye for Optical Theory" from the soundtrack to Peter Greenaway's "The Draughtsman’s Contract".
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The music for The Draughtsman's Contract is familiar to a vast audience who've almost certainly never even seen the film as it has been extensively used in advertising and is among the most frequently played contemporary music on classical radio stations around the world.
The Composer's Cut Series Vol. I: The Draughtsman's Contract is the 51st album by Michael Nyman, recorded in 2005 with the Michael Nyman Band and released in 2006.
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film scores (many written during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway ), and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion 's The Piano .
- Plot
- Themes
- Background
- Music
- Art References
- Reception
- Restoration
- External Links
Mr Neville, a young and conceited artist, is contracted by Mrs Virginia Herbert to produce a series of twelve landscape drawings of her country house, its outbuildings and gardens, as a gift for her cold and neglectful husband, who is currently away on business. Part of the contract is that Mrs Herbert agrees to comply with Mr Neville's sexual dema...
Although there is a murder mystery, its resolution is not explicit; it is implied that the mother (Mrs Herbert) and daughter (Mrs Talmann) planned the murder of Mr Herbert.Mrs Herbert and Mrs Talmann were aided by Mr Clarke, the gardener, and his assistant. In order to keep the estate in their hands, they needed an heir. Because Mr Talmann was impo...
The film was inspired when Greenaway, who trained as an artist before becoming a filmmaker, spent three weeks drawing a house near Hay-on-Wyewhile holidaying with his family. Much like Mr Neville in the final film, every day he would work on a particular view at a set time, to preserve the lighting effects while sketching from day to day. The hands...
Michael Nyman's score is derived from grounds by Henry Purcell overlaid with new melodies, while one of the recurring tracks, apparently excluded from the film's soundtrack, is at least partly derived from the second movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Violin Sonata in E Minor, K. 304. The original plan was to use one ground for every two of the ...
The visual references for the film are paintings by Caravaggio, de La Tour, Rembrandt, Vermeer and other Baroque artists and this gives the film a "painterly quality". Greenawayalso said: "I consider that 90% of my films one way or another refers to paintings. "Contract" quite openly refers to Caravaggio, Georges de La Tour and other French and Ita...
The Draughtsman's Contract has a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "Smart and utterly original, The Draughtsman's Contract is a period piece that marks the further maturation of a writer-director with a thrillingly unique vision". Roger Ebert, who gave the film...
The film was originally shot on Super 16mm film then blown up to 35mm for cinema releases. In 2003 the BFIrestored the film digitally and this restoration was released on DVD. Umbrella Entertainment released the digitally restored film on DVD in Australia, with special features including an introduction and commentary by Peter Greenaway, an intervi...
Sites
1. The Draughtsman's Contractat petergreenaway.org.uk 2. The Draughtsman's Contract at IMDb 3. The Draughtsman's Contract at Rotten Tomatoes 4. The Draughtsman's Contract at Box Office Mojo 5. The Draughtsman's Contract at AllMovie 6. The Draughtsman's Contract at BFI 6.1. DVD Bonus material – Original proposal
Reviews
1. The Draughtsman's Contract, film reference, Sylvia Paskin – detailed bibliography 2. 922 (63). The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982, Peter Greenaway), Shooting Down Pictures – links and excerpts to many reviews 3. The Draughtsman's Contract, James Mackenzie, January 2001 4. The Draughtsman's Contract, not coming to a theater near you, David Carter, 12 January 2010 5. The Draughtsman's Contract, DVD Beaver – comparison of DVD releases
Nyman: The Draughtsman's Contract (film score 1982) - An eye for optical Theory. Release - Topic. 50 subscribers. 191. 20K views 6 years ago. Provided to YouTube by Universal Music...
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Nyman grasps the syncopated potential of the original by allowing the two saxophones to layer textures consisting of individual ‘collections’ of melodies over a constantly-changing backing track in the remaining ensemble, eventually giving rise to a strident melodic line in the upper strings.
