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SOUNDTRACK/MICHAEL NYMAN | MAN ON WIRE
TRACK LISTING
1. Fish Beach - Michael Nyman
2. History Of The Insipid - Michael Nyman
3. Dreams Of A Journey - Michael Nyman
4. Time Lapse - Michael Nyman
5. The Disposition of Linen - Michael Nyman
6. Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds - Michael Nyman
7. An Eye For Optical Theory - Michael Nyman
8. A Ramble in St James Park - Michael Nyman
9. Passage De L'Égalité - Michael Nyman
10. Drowning By Number 2 - Michael Nyman
11. Trysting Fields/Sheep ‘n' Tides - Michael Nyman
12. Memorial - Michael Nyman
13. Leaving Home - J. Ralph
14. Leaving Home Sunday Exploration - J. Ralph
15. Gnossienne No. 1 - Erik Satie (Pascal Rogé, piano)
16. Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie (Pascal Rogé, piano)
THE FILM
IN CINEMAS: 16 October
MAN ON WIRE is the dramatic retelling of Philippe Petit's daring, and illegal, scheme to walk the high-wire between New York's twin towers - the artistic crime of the 20th century.
On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released.
Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the WTC's security; smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers; pass the wire between the two rooftops; anchor the wire and tension it to withstand the winds and the swaying of the buildings. The rigging was done by night in complete secrecy. At 7:15AM, Philippe took his first step on the high wire 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan…
James Marsh's documentary brings Petit's extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as "the artistic crime of the century".
THE SOUNDTRACK
Philippe Petit about Michael Nyman: "Michael Nyman's compositions never fail to tie a relentless musical thread around me, to pull me across the void and to bring me to the arrival point safely. His music never lets go of that thread. And if at times I hear repetitions, it is an illusion; it is never the same breath, it is always about to surprise me."
"I will not perform on the high wire without music. And yes, the motor of my daily three-hour practice 15 feet above the ground is music. I have assembled a worldwide pot-pourri. There is Satie's first Gymnopédie, there is a song of Sting about fragility, a chant to the beat of human bones recorded in the caves of Easter Island, a Slavic plaint from a one-string broken violin and the very rich explosion of Michael Nyman's Memorial"
"Michael's compositions never fail to tie a relentless musical thread around me, to pull me across the void and to bring me to the arrival point safely. His music never lets go of that thread. And if at times I hear repetitions, it is an illusion; it is never the same breath, it is always about to surprise me."
Philippe Petit about Erik Satie's Gymonopédie No. 1: "In a very different way, Erik Satie's first Gymnopédie is funambulesque: an invitation to explore immobility (my quest as a high wire artist) and to balance in mid-air for infinite moments. That's why the piece is so difficult to play. The artist at the keyboard must be able to reinvent the feel of ephemeral suspension, the volume of the arrest of time, the immense fragility and solidity witnessed only in miracles."
Philippe Petit about J. Ralph: "Something else fascinates me in James Marsh's film; the presence of an all-together different score. The original compositions of young J. Ralph literally frame the story (the opening scene, the end-credits), and also echo and give profundity to the director's "heist" reconstructions. Considering we had not yet met, it is an accomplishment for Josh to so faithfully whisper what invades me when I step into an illegal activity: a gentle, yet suspense-like humming. He transformed into music the otherworldliness of my adventure.
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