Perpetua — Michael Nyman’s latest dance score for the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company’s new ballet “Exit No Exit” — premieres on 3 February in London. Based on rhythmic patterns of speech, and choreographed by Jeyasingh, the 25-minute work is scored for string quartet and bass clarinet. After the first performance, Perpetua receives an extensive UK tour that runs through April. This is Nyman’s third collaboration with Jeyasingh, having previously created “Configurations” (for which Nyman wrote his seminal String Quartet No. 2) which was followed by last year’s electronics and media-infused piece “Flicker.”
Like Maxwell Davies, Nyman has also launched his own CD label — MN Records. The first two releases are: “The Piano Sings” — a solo piano album featuring Nyman performing tracks from his film scores Wonderland, The End of the Affair and The Piano, and his chamber opera Man and Boy: Dada, performed by the cast of the 2004 Almeida Opera production. Upcoming discs include: the vocal chamber work Acts of Beauty performed by Cristina Zavalloni, new recordings by the Michael Nyman Band, and previously unreleased and otherwise unavailable recordings.