Facing Goya
Encyclopedia
Facing Goya is an opera
in four acts by Michael Nyman
on a libretto
by Victoria Hardie. It is an expansion of their one-act opera called Vital Statistics from 1987, dealing with such subjects as physiognomy
and its practitioners, and also incorporates a musical motif from Nyman's art song
, "The Kiss", inspired by a Paul Richards
painting
. Nyman also considers the work thematically tied to his other works, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
, The Ogre
, and Gattaca
, though he does not quote any of these musically, save a very brief passage of the latter. It was premièred at the Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain on August 3, 2000. The revision with the cast heard on the album premirered at the Badisches Straatstheater in Karlsruhe
, Germany
, on October 19, 2002. Vital Statistics has been withdrawn. The Santiago version included more material from Vital Statistics.
The expanded opera deals with the elitism
and prejudice
of various movements in pseudosciences and art criticism
, wrapped around a thread of a desire to make a clone of Francisco Goya
through use of his long-lost skull
, which he hid from the likes of Paul Broca
, and which the Art Banker finds under a floorboard in a "degenerate art
" gallery in Act II. This skull is the object of numerous fights in the second and third acts, often with one character snatching it from another. The opera is non-realistic in its presentation, with only one through-character, the Art Banker. Indeed, when Goya does appear, it is not the result of cloning, but a purely fantastical device. Four other performers play different roles in each section who are thematically connected. In addition, two actor
s are called for in non-speaking roles. The Art Banker also speaks narration into a dictaphone
, but this was omitted from the studio recording, though the lines are reprinted in the booklet.
Soldiers, apparition of Goya, craniometry interns, porters, lab technicians.
clothes hanging off them, and stones
jutting out of the earth
like gravestones, in the manner of a charcoal
drawing
." Projection
s of art and diagrams are used throughout the production.
and a sparkly T-shirt
".
The Genetic Academic (Baritone) "wears bicycle clips
and a helmet
".
The Microbiologist (Soprano 1) "wears a thigh length zip top, leather
miniskirt
, and stud earrings."
in mind. The studio recording includes five violin
s, two viola
s, one cello
, two double bass
es, two each soprano and alto saxes (doubled), baritone sax, flute
, alto flute
, piccolo
, trumpet
and flugelhorn
(doubled), French horn, bass trombone (doubled), tuba
(doubled), euphonium
(doubled), and electric guitar
.
. It is Michael Nyman's 44th album. Alexander Balanescu
left the band during the recording of this album, and his concertmaster
seat awarded to Gabrielle Lester
, who previously recorded with the band on La Sept
(1989). Nyman's own label, MN Music, reissued the opera with a cover featuring his own photograph of a mass of dolls wrapped in plastic, in 2011. That edition contains a third disc with excerpts of Man and Boy: Dada
and Love Counts
.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in four acts by Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
on a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Victoria Hardie. It is an expansion of their one-act opera called Vital Statistics from 1987, dealing with such subjects as physiognomy
Physiognomy
Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
and its practitioners, and also incorporates a musical motif from Nyman's art song
Art song
An art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
, "The Kiss", inspired by a Paul Richards
Paul Richards
Paul Richards may refer to:* Paul Richards * Paul Richards , baseball player, manager, scout and executive* Paul Richards , American actor who starred in the ABC-TV 1963-64 series Breaking Point...
painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. Nyman also considers the work thematically tied to his other works, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (opera)
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a one-act chamber opera by Michael Nyman to an English-language libretto by Christopher Rawlence, adapted from the case study of the same name by Oliver Sacks by Nyman, Rawlence, and Michael Morris...
, The Ogre
The Ogre (film)
The score is composed by Michael Nyman and features strictly brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments by members of the Michael Nyman Band. The music was rerecorded by Wingates Band, with the woodwind parts transcribed for brass, on the 2006 album, Nyman Brass.-Track listing:#Knights at School...
, and Gattaca
Gattaca
Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin....
, though he does not quote any of these musically, save a very brief passage of the latter. It was premièred at the Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain on August 3, 2000. The revision with the cast heard on the album premirered at the Badisches Straatstheater in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, on October 19, 2002. Vital Statistics has been withdrawn. The Santiago version included more material from Vital Statistics.
The expanded opera deals with the elitism
Elitism
Elitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite — a select group of people with intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
and prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
of various movements in pseudosciences and art criticism
Art criticism
Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art.Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty...
, wrapped around a thread of a desire to make a clone of Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
through use of his long-lost skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
, which he hid from the likes of Paul Broca
Paul Broca
Pierre Paul Broca was a French physician, surgeon, anatomist, and anthropologist. He was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that has been named after him. Broca’s Area is responsible for articulated language...
, and which the Art Banker finds under a floorboard in a "degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
" gallery in Act II. This skull is the object of numerous fights in the second and third acts, often with one character snatching it from another. The opera is non-realistic in its presentation, with only one through-character, the Art Banker. Indeed, when Goya does appear, it is not the result of cloning, but a purely fantastical device. Four other performers play different roles in each section who are thematically connected. In addition, two actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s are called for in non-speaking roles. The Art Banker also speaks narration into a dictaphone
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
, but this was omitted from the studio recording, though the lines are reprinted in the booklet.
Roles
- Art Banker, a widowWidowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
(contraltoContraltoContralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
), loves Goya, but is corrupted by money. She foolishly wants to patent Goya's talent gene. Despite this, she is the most charismatic and sympathetic figure of the satireSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
. She is a time tripper. An art banker is a person who deals in exchange of famous artworks among museums. This character is currently a specialist in the work of Goya. - SopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
1 (coloraturaColoraturaColoratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
), obsessed with science, she lives in her head, and is the one who ultimately cracks the human genome. (Craniometrist 1, Eugenicist/Art Critic 1, MicrobiologistMicrobiologistA microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
). At one point she nearly chokes herself with a tape measure, but continues to sing. - Soprano 2 (lyricSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
), unhappy indvidualist who sees the dangers of racismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in gene control. She is opposed to cloning and State ownership of genetic readouts. She does not believe that recreating a person recreates that person's talent. (Craniometery Assistant 2, Art Critic 2, GeneticGeneticsGenetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
ResearchResearchResearch can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
DoctorPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
) - TenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, a shallow opportunist who believes eugenic theories are reflected in art. His greed leads him to want to make the first laboratory cloned human. A product of genetic engineering himself, he expresses his arrogance in the arietta, "I am an oil painting". (Craniometry Assistant 1, Eugenicist/Art Critic 3, Chief Executive of a Bio-TechBiotechnologyBiotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
Company) - BaritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, he doesn't agree with anyone, and they don't like him. He is humorous and self-deprecating, fatalistic, and thinks little of the uniqueness in humankind. (Craniometrist 2, Art Critic 4, Genetic Academic, Francisco Goya)
Soldiers, apparition of Goya, craniometry interns, porters, lab technicians.
Setting
The play moves through three times and places (act 3 and 4 are the same location weeks apart, and all but the baritone remain the same character). The libretto calls for "a Goyaesque landscape of bare branches with bloodyBloody
Bloody is the adjectival form of blood but may also be used as an expletive attributive in Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, South Africa , New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Anglophone Caribbean and Sri Lanka...
clothes hanging off them, and stones
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
jutting out of the earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
like gravestones, in the manner of a charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
." Projection
Slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. Slide projectors were common in the 1950s to the 1970s as a form of entertainment; family members and friends would gather to view slide shows...
s of art and diagrams are used throughout the production.
Costumes
The Genetic Research Doctor (Soprano 2) "wears jeansJeans
Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
and a sparkly T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
".
The Genetic Academic (Baritone) "wears bicycle clips
Trouser clips
Bicycle clips, also called trouser clips, are small C-shaped pieces of thin metal worn around the ankle when cycling in trousers. They are designed to prevent the bottom of the trousers from becoming caught in the chain or crank mechanism, and from being covered in oil and dirt...
and a helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
".
The Microbiologist (Soprano 1) "wears a thigh length zip top, leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
miniskirt
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
, and stud earrings."
Orchestration
This is the first opera Nyman has scored with his bandMichael Nyman Band
The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic...
in mind. The studio recording includes five violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, two viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, one cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, two double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es, two each soprano and alto saxes (doubled), baritone sax, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, alto flute
Alto flute
The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
, piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
(doubled), French horn, bass trombone (doubled), tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
(doubled), euphonium
Euphonium
The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
(doubled), and electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
.
Recording
A recording was released in 20022002 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
. It is Michael Nyman's 44th album. Alexander Balanescu
Alexander Balanescu
Alexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Balanescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
left the band during the recording of this album, and his concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
seat awarded to Gabrielle Lester
Gabrielle Lester
Gabrielle Lester is an English classical violinist and orchestra leader. She maintains an extensive discography of classical, popular and soundtrack recordings.-Career:...
, who previously recorded with the band on La Sept
La Sept
La Sept was a French television broadcaster and production company created on 23 February 1986 to develop cultural and educational programming for transmission via the TDF 1 satellite...
(1989). Nyman's own label, MN Music, reissued the opera with a cover featuring his own photograph of a mass of dolls wrapped in plastic, in 2011. That edition contains a third disc with excerpts of Man and Boy: Dada
Man and Boy: Dada
Man and Boy: Dada is a 2003 opera by Michael Nyman on a libretto by Michael Hastings. It tells the story of a friendship between aging dada artist Kurt Schwitters and a twelve-year-old boy. These two characters and the boy's mother make up the cast of the opera.It was first performed at the...
and Love Counts
Love Counts
Love Counts is a 2005 opera in two acts by Michael Nyman on a libretto by Michael Hastings.-Performance history:The opera premiered March 12, 2005 at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, directed by Robert Tannenbaum...
.
Cast
- Hilary SummersHilary SummersHilary Summers is a Welsh contralto. She was trained at Reading University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the National Opera Studio in London. She has performed on soundtracks such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Libertine, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
as the Art Banker - Winnie Böwe as Soprano 1
- Marie AngelMarie AngelMarie Angel is an Australian-born opera singer. She sings both operas in the standard repertoire as well as contemporary operas by such composers as Mauricio Kagel, Bruno Maderna, Michael Tippett, Harrison Birtwistle, Philip Glass, Louis Andriessen, Michael Nyman, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, and John...
as Soprano 2 - Harry Niccoll as Tenor
- Omar EbrahimOmar EbrahimOmar Ebrahim is an English baritone vocalist and actor. He specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music....
as Baritone
The Michael Nyman Band
- Alexander BalanescuAlexander BalanescuAlexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Balanescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
, violin (leader, Acts 1-3) - Gabrielle LesterGabrielle LesterGabrielle Lester is an English classical violinist and orchestra leader. She maintains an extensive discography of classical, popular and soundtrack recordings.-Career:...
, violin (leader, act 4)
- Catherine Thompson, violin
- Gillian Findlay, violin
- Katherine Shave, violin
- Catherine Musker, viola
- Bruce White, viola
- Tony HinniganTony HinniganAnthony "Tony" Hinnigan is a musician from Glasgow. He is best known for his work with Michael Nyman , Ennio Morricone, and James Horner. He plays cello as well as Irish whistle and various Andean woodwind instruments...
, cello
- Roger Linley, double bass
- Steven Williams, double bass
- Martin Elliott, bass guitar
- David Roach, soprano, alto sax
- Simon Haram, soprano, alto sax
- Andrew FindonAndrew FindonAndrew Findon is an English flautist and saxophonist. Educated at Harrow County School for Boys, he trained as an orchestral flautist, and served as principal flute of the National Youth Orchestra in the early 1970s and three years at the Royal College of Music...
, bartione sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo - Steve SidwellSteve Sidwell (musician)Steve Sidwell is a conductor, composer, and instrumentalist specialising in swing music. Renowned as an arranger and composer, Steve, has featured on numerous albums, television shows, advertising campaigns and films with his distinctive and innovative orchestrations and compositions.He is also a...
, trumpet, flugelhorn - Nigel Gomm, trumpet, flugelhorn
- David LeeDave Lee (horn player)David Lee is currently solo horn with the Michael Nyman Band. He has held principal positions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Opera House Orchestra....
, French horn - Nigel BarrNigel BarrNigel Barr grew up as a member of the High Wycombe Salvation Army band. In 1980 he went to the Guildhall School of Music and studied trombone with Peter Gane and Denis Wick during that time he was also a member of International Staff Band playing bass trombone.Since then Nigel has had a varied...
, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium - Andrew Fawbert, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium
- James Woodrow, electric guitar
- Conducted by Michael NymanMichael NymanMichael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
Crew
- Produced by Michael Nyman and Austin Ince
- Engineer: Austin Ince
- Assistant Engineers: Andrew Dudman, Roland Heap, Ryu Kawashima, Andrew Nicholls, Paul RichardsonPaul RichardsonPaul Richardson was the home field organist for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1970 to 2005.In 1980 when the Phillies won the World Series, Richardson was awarded a World Series Ring alongside the players....
, Alex Scannell
- Recorded at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, London, June 2001, March 2002 and May 2002
Snake Ranch, May 2002
- Mixed at Sony Studios, London, June and July 2002
- Mastered by Bob Whitney at Sony Studios, London, August 2002
- A&RA&RArtists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
: Dirk Lange - Executive Producer: Elizabeth Lloyd
- Production coordinator: Sarah Morley
- Assistant Coordinator: Miranda Westcott
- Composer's Assistant: Robert WorbyRobert WorbyRobert Worby is a composer, sound artist, writer and broadcaster based in London.He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 3's Hear and NowTowards the end of the 70s he played guitar and tapes in a post-punk band called The Distributors...
- Special thanks: Vivienne Guiness, Nicholas HareNicholas HareSir Nicholas Hare of Bruisyard, Suffolk was Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1539-1540.He was born the eldest son of John Hare of Homersfield, Suffolk, educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and admitted to the Inner Temple in 1515...
, Michael HastingsMichael Hastings (playwright)Michael Gerald Hastings was a British playwright, screen-writer, and occasional novelist and poet.He is probably best known for his 1984 play about the poet T.S. Eliot and his wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood, Tom & Viv, which became a motion picture released in 1994.Hastings was born in London...
, Jude KellyJude KellyJudith Pamela Kelly OBE is a theatre director and producer from Liverpool, England.Kelly founded Solent People's Theatre, a touring company in 1976, and was artistic director of the Battersea Arts Centre from 1980 to 1985. In 1986, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, Graham Sheffield, Harry Lyth, James MackayJames MackayJames Mackay may refer to:*James MacKay , U.S, Representative from Georgia*James MacKay , Scottish explorer with the North West Company*James Mackay , New Zealand MP...
, Julio Marti, Jonathan Moore, Michael Neve, Karen PriceKaren PriceKaren Elaine Price is an American model, stunt woman and television producer. She is sometimes credited as Karen Castoldi. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in January 1981...
, James Rushton, Neil WallaceNeil WallaceNeil Wallace is an American economist and professor at Pennsylvania State University. Wallace is considered one of the main proponents of new classical macroeconomics....
- Published by Chester Music Limited/Michael Nyman Limited 2002
- Project Manager: Lee Woollard
- Editorial Assistant: Christian Müller
- Translations: FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Olivier Laruaz-Gaillard - GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Almut Lenz-Konrad - SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Ángel Seoane
- Art direction and cover illustrations: Thierry Cohen, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- Cover illustrations contain a detail of Petrus CamperPetrus CamperPeter, Pieter, or usually Petrus Camper was a Dutch physician, anatomist, physiologist, midwife, zoologist, anthropologist, paleontologist and a naturalist. He studied the orangutan, the rhinoceros, the skull of a whale...
, drawing, and portrait of Francisco GoyaFrancisco GoyaFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era... - Special thanks to Max for the x-ray of his skull.