The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989 Film) [Soundtrack]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Soundtrack to the film by Peter Greenaway! Music composed and conducted by Michael Nyman and performed by the Michael Nyman Band Featuring additional performances by Alexander Balanescu (violin) and London Voices. EMI. 2005. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989 Film), Music, Michael Nyman, Avant-Garde, Classical, Composer, Minimalism, Original Score, Soundtrack, Soundtracks & Film Scores
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989 Film)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • incomplete?
  • Too Haunting?
  • Purely haunting! It's wonderfully clean.
  • Hauntingly beautiful
 The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989 Film)

Manufacturer: Venture / Caroline
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Drowning By Numbers (1987 Film)
  2. A Zed And Two Noughts: Original Music From The Film By Peter Greenaway
  3. The Very Best of Michael Nyman - Film Music 1980-2001
  4. The Essential Michael Nyman Band
  5. Wonderland 1999 Film Score

ASIN: B000000HSN
Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

  1. Memorial
  2. Miserere Paraphrase
  3. Book Depository
  4. Coupling
  5. Miserere

Album Description

Out of print in the U.S.! Soundtrack to the 1989 film from director Peter Greenaway, one of his finest works. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards and has grown in stature since it's original release. Music composed and conducted by Michael Nyman and performed by the Michael Nyman Band This was the seventh soundtrack that Nyman had composed for a Peter Greenaway film. Featuring additional performances by Alexander Balanescu (violin) and London Voices. EMI.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars incomplete?.......2006-12-01

Where is the love theme music? It's the only reason I bought this soundtrack?!

4 out of 5 stars Too Haunting?.......2000-05-09

I was at the theatre watching something dull, and inexplicably starting feeling really anxious. During a quiet moment in the film I was watching, I realized I was hearing Nyman's soundtrack coming through the wall from the next theatre. This was about two months after I first saw The Cook/Thief. It is a beautifull score, but still gets to me.

If you found the movie disturbing then you might prefer a Zed and Two Naughts which is as lush and beautiful, but without the emotional side effects.

Like other Micheal Nyman scores, these are not short music cues, but fully developed pieces. I wish other soundracks were as carefully considered before release.

5 out of 5 stars Purely haunting! It's wonderfully clean........1999-08-05

This movie is both beautiful and disturbing. And Nyman has captured that wonderfully. This soundtrack was an important part of the movie which is very apparent once you start the CD. It's as powerful as any of Nyman's work.

5 out of 5 stars Hauntingly beautiful.......1998-06-19

There is no lack of passion or fire in this soundtrack. In particular, Memorial- a song Nyman wrote in response to a soccer riot- is a true masterpiece that is the ultimate expression of emotion and tension.
The Essential Michael Nyman Band
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • An Excellent Sampler, and the Best Place to Start
  • Michael Nyman RULES !
  • Sensations mosaic
  • Good start to meet Nyman
  • The Emperor's New Music
 The Essential Michael Nyman Band
Michael Nyman , Sarah Leonard , Linda Hirst , Clare Conners , and David Roach
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. The Very Best of Michael Nyman - Film Music 1980-2001
  2. Drowning By Numbers (1987 Film)
  3. A Zed And Two Noughts: Original Music From The Film By Peter Greenaway
  4. Wonderland 1999 Film Score
  5. The Kiss & Other Movements

ASIN: B000004CVW
Release Date: 1993-01-19

Tracks:

  1. The Draughtsman's Contract: Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds
  2. The Draghtsman's Contract: An Eye For Optical Theory
  3. The Draughtsman's Contract: The Garden Is Becoming A Robe Room
  4. A Zed And Two Noughts: Prawn - watching
  5. A Zed And Two Noughts: Time Lapse
  6. Drowning By Numbers: Fish Beach
  7. Drowning By Numbers: Wheelbarrow Walk
  8. Drowning By Numbers: Knowing The Ropes
  9. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover: Miserere Paraphrase
  10. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover: Memorial
  11. Water Dances: Stroking - Synchronising
  12. Prospero's Books: Miranda

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars An Excellent Sampler, and the Best Place to Start.......2006-01-24

If you're unfamiliar with Nyman and want a broad overview of his best work, I'd start here. I actually WORE OUT a copy of this and recently bought another. When it arrived, I played it over and over-- Nyman's almost creepily insistent and precise compositions will appeal to those who appreciate minimalism and repetition in the music of other composers such as John Adams, Steve Reich, Michael Torke, and Philip Glass.

5 out of 5 stars Michael Nyman RULES !.......2004-07-22

I thought there was nothing beyond Philip Glass, Steve Reich or John Adams. Suddenly, for some strange reason I bought this CD. It far exceeded my expectations.

Nyman is a excelent composer, his music is fast-paced, joyful and delicious.

I recomend this CD for anyone who is looking for a great minimalist composer.

5 out of 5 stars Sensations mosaic.......2004-03-31

Today I was talking with a friend about the rainbow of feelings "Memorial" awakes in my mind. I consider this song like the exact opposite of easy-listening music, a feeling catalyst, a vehicle that can raise you to the sky and gradually take you to the deepest level in hell. As derrotista said, it is perfect to describe the meaning of a word like "death", but more than that, with an inevitability emphasis.

The rest of the compilation also honors the meaning of intensity. No one song in this disc will let your attention go away from the sensations mosaic this record constructs. Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars Good start to meet Nyman.......2004-03-05

I was a great enthusiast of new age and minimalist music in the early 90's, when I was still a teenager. I had this as one of my favourite albums and today I consider it one of my best purchases.

Ten years later, Nyman is recognised as one of the biggest composers of late XXth century. In part with the astonishing soundtrack of "The Piano". But I think this "Essential" album has more to offer to you.

Of course, my favourite is "Memorial". It is the most tragic music I have ever listened. It's a perfect track to describe what a word like "death" can mean. "Miserere Paraphrase" is the definition of another simple word: "pain".

Some other tracks are the purity of minimalism: "Knowing the Ropes", "Chasing Sheep is best left to Shepherds", "Wheelbarrow Walk" and "The Garden is Becoming a Robe Room" are of my favourites.

Why am I not giving it five stars? The reason: "Prospero's Books: Miranda". It is a bad way to end this album. Almost the whole album is devoted to Greenaway films: "The Draughtsman Contract", "The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover", "A Zed and Two Noughts" and "Drowning by Numbers" and the referred "Prospero's Books". The only track not belonging to a film is Stroking-Synchronising, from "Water Dances" album. This is a tremendous composition and should be the great finale for this album. "Miranda" is a dull and not creative composition, which Nyman doesn't have to be proud of it: it is too complex, too changing and breaks with the minimalist spirit. I also think the soprano and the mezzo don't play a "serious" part.

But of course, it has an honour place in my discography.

2 out of 5 stars The Emperor's New Music.......2002-04-11

A lot of people seem to love this guy and I just don't see why. I find it dull, intellectual (in the most pejorative sense) and defines what's wrong with a lot of "post-modernism" in music today. This guy doesn't write tunes as much as he writes concepts of tunes. The music fails to connect on an emotional level and fails to be interesting enough in purely intellectual terms to compensate for it's emotional hollowness. His craft seems a bit lacking too- filled with the trappings of minimalism without the basic musical values such as memorable melodies, logical harmony and innovative form that make a composer such as John Adams worth listening to. His often odd choices of orchestration tend to strike one as merely grotesque rather than imaginative. I'm afraid that Michael Nyman is a musical poseur and it's a shame that so many people have bought into his brand of soulless artifice.
Not recommended.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Haunting, yet oddly comical in some way...
 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Michael Nyman
Manufacturer: EMI/Virgin
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0001HM4RO
Release Date: 2004-03-29

Tracks:

  1. Memorial
  2. Miserere Paraphrase
  3. Miserere
  4. Coupling
  5. Book Depository

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Haunting, yet oddly comical in some way..........2005-01-14

...just like the flim. The whole score is an overshadowing funeral procession that never gives you a doubt that bad things will go down soon, and according to the story they did.

The opening title on disc can be oppressive at 12 minutes, but the next 3 that follow are fine pieces that showcase both the lighter (few that there are) and darker points which do not overstay their welcome. The closing composition is a chorus (the London Voices) featuring a floating saprano that is great, however it too like the 1st take is close to 12 minutes long and it can grate on you if you're not in the mood for it.

As far as the remastering goes, I only have the original pressing of the cd, so I won't know (but how could it not be better?). The graphics look like they were done by 23 Envelope.

It's nice to see it's not forgotten.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • incomplete?
  • Too Haunting?
  • Purely haunting! It's wonderfully clean.
  • Hauntingly beautiful
 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Alexander Balanescu , and The Michael Nyman Band
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Drowning By Numbers (1987 Film)
  2. A Zed And Two Noughts: Original Music From The Film By Peter Greenaway
  3. The Very Best of Michael Nyman - Film Music 1980-2001
  4. The Essential Michael Nyman Band
  5. Wonderland 1999 Film Score

ASIN: B000025JTT
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

  1. Memorial
  2. Miserere Paraphrase - Alexander Balanescu, Michael Nyman
  3. Book Depository
  4. Coupling
  5. Miserere - London Voices, Michael Nyman Band

Album Description

Out of print in the U.S.! Soundtrack to the 1989 film from director Peter Greenaway, one of his finest works. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards and has grown in stature since it's original release. Music composed and conducted by Michael Nyman and performed by the Michael Nyman Band This was the seventh soundtrack that Nyman had composed for a Peter Greenaway film. Featuring additional performances by Alexander Balanescu (violin) and London Voices. EMI.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars incomplete?.......2006-12-01

Where is the love theme music? It's the only reason I bought this soundtrack?!

4 out of 5 stars Too Haunting?.......2000-05-09

I was at the theatre watching something dull, and inexplicably starting feeling really anxious. During a quiet moment in the film I was watching, I realized I was hearing Nyman's soundtrack coming through the wall from the next theatre. This was about two months after I first saw The Cook/Thief. It is a beautifull score, but still gets to me.

If you found the movie disturbing then you might prefer a Zed and Two Naughts which is as lush and beautiful, but without the emotional side effects.

Like other Micheal Nyman scores, these are not short music cues, but fully developed pieces. I wish other soundracks were as carefully considered before release.

5 out of 5 stars Purely haunting! It's wonderfully clean........1999-08-05

This movie is both beautiful and disturbing. And Nyman has captured that wonderfully. This soundtrack was an important part of the movie which is very apparent once you start the CD. It's as powerful as any of Nyman's work.

5 out of 5 stars Hauntingly beautiful.......1998-06-19

There is no lack of passion or fire in this soundtrack. In particular, Memorial- a song Nyman wrote in response to a soccer riot- is a true masterpiece that is the ultimate expression of emotion and tension.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • incomplete?
  • Too Haunting?
  • Purely haunting! It's wonderfully clean.
  • Hauntingly beautiful
 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Michael Nyman
Manufacturer: Caroline
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Movie ScoresMovie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
Movie SoundtracksMovie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
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Movie SoundtracksMovie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Drowning By Numbers (1987 Film)
  2. A Zed And Two Noughts: Original Music From The Film By Peter Greenaway
  3. The Very Best of Michael Nyman - Film Music 1980-2001
  4. The Essential Michael Nyman Band
  5. Wonderland 1999 Film Score

ASIN: B000000HSO
Release Date: 1992-10-28

Tracks:

  1. Memorial
  2. Miserere Paraphrase - Alexander Balanescu, Michael Nyman
  3. Book Depository
  4. Coupling
  5. Miserere - London Voices, Michael Nyman Band

Album Description

Out of print in the U.S.! Soundtrack to the 1989 film from director Peter Greenaway, one of his finest works. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards and has grown in stature since it's original release. Music composed and conducted by Michael Nyman and performed by the Michael Nyman Band This was the seventh soundtrack that Nyman had composed for a Peter Greenaway film. Featuring additional performances by Alexander Balanescu (violin) and London Voices. EMI.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars incomplete?.......2006-12-01

Where is the love theme music? It's the only reason I bought this soundtrack?!

4 out of 5 stars Too Haunting?.......2000-05-09

I was at the theatre watching something dull, and inexplicably starting feeling really anxious. During a quiet moment in the film I was watching, I realized I was hearing Nyman's soundtrack coming through the wall from the next theatre. This was about two months after I first saw The Cook/Thief. It is a beautifull score, but still gets to me.

If you found the movie disturbing then you might prefer a Zed and Two Naughts which is as lush and beautiful, but without the emotional side effects.

Like other Micheal Nyman scores, these are not short music cues, but fully developed pieces. I wish other soundracks were as carefully considered before release.

5 out of 5 stars Purely haunting! It's wonderfully clean........1999-08-05

This movie is both beautiful and disturbing. And Nyman has captured that wonderfully. This soundtrack was an important part of the movie which is very apparent once you start the CD. It's as powerful as any of Nyman's work.

5 out of 5 stars Hauntingly beautiful.......1998-06-19

There is no lack of passion or fire in this soundtrack. In particular, Memorial- a song Nyman wrote in response to a soccer riot- is a true masterpiece that is the ultimate expression of emotion and tension.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
    Michael Nyman
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
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    New AgeNew Age | Imports | Stores | Music
    ASIN: B000FDJ2XS
    Release Date: 2006-06-06

    Tracks:

    1. Memorial
    2. Miserere Paraphrase
    3. Book Depository
    4. Coupling
    5. Miserere

    Album Description

    Digitally remastered version in a standard jewel case for the soundtrack to the 1989 film by Peter Greenaway. Featuring additional performances by Alexander Balanescu (violin) and London Voices. EMI.
    Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover

      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      GeneralGeneral | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
      SoundtracksSoundtracks | Imports | Stores | Music
      ASIN: B0001HQ2M2
      Release Date: 2004-04-06

      Album Description

      Full title - The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover. 1989 film score for the Peter Greenaway film, features 5 digitally remastered tracks, packaged in a digipak. Copy Controlled. Virgin. 2004.

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