And Do They Do/Zoo Caprices

Infobox Album
Name = And Do They Do/Zoo Caprices
Type = studio
Artist = Michael Nyman


Caption = art by David Buckland
1989 Ter Records CD release
Jay Edition is identical save for the logo
Released = 1986
Recorded = 1986
Genre = Contemporary classical music, minimalist music
Length = 48:22
Label = Ter (1986, 1989)
Jay (1999)(producer of the original recording)
Producer = David Cunningham
Reviews =
Last album = A Zed & Two Noughts
1985
This album = And Do They Do/Zoo Caprices
1986
Next album = The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
1988

"And Do They Do/Zoo Caprices" is the eighth album release by Michael Nyman and the fifth feauring the Michael Nyman Band. "And Do They Do" is a modern dance work commission by Siobhan Davies and The London Contemporary Dance Theatre, which premiered at Sadler's Wells Theatre on November 25, 1986. "Zoo Caprices" is a multi-stop violin solo for Alexander Balanescu based on the score for Peter Greenaway's film, "A Zed & Two Noughts".

The album was issued on LP in 1986 by Ter Records under license from Jay Records. It was issued on compact disc first in 1989 by Ter Records, which had released "A Zed & Two Noughts". Jay Records then reissued the album on CD June 15, 1999.

And Do They Do

"And Do They Do" consists of four linked "Songs" (although none of them are actually sung), that were used for Siobhan Davies's dance production, which the album photos suggest was done entirely in the nude. (The back cover of the booklet shows male full frontal nudity.) The third song, although it has the jazziest qualities, is based on Robert Schumann's "Nachtlied" Opus 19, No.1, a "spin-off" from his opera, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat", which was written concurrently and in which Schumann's music is an important element of the story.

Zoo Caprices

"Zoo Caprices" was written for the virtuosity of Alexander Balanescu, who premiered the work in Paris on April 8, 1986. The score is a reduction of the score for "A Zed & Two Noughts", but allows for Balanescu's ability to create multiple harmonies on a single instrument through multiple stops. The order is significantly altered from the original album, and "Vermeer's Wife" and "Prawn Watching" are combined into a single section.

Track listing

#Song I
#Song II
#Song III
#Song IV
#The Lady in the Red Hat
#Swan Rot
#Up for Crabs
#Car Crash
#Bisocosis Populi
#Venus de Milo
#Angelfish Decay
#Vermeer's Wife Watches Prawns
#Timelapse

Personnel

Performed by the Michael Nyman Band
*Alexander Balanescu, violin
*Rupert Bawden, viola
*Andrew Findon, piccolo, bass flute
*David Fuest, clarinet, bass clarinet
*Michael Nyman, piano
*Elisabeth Perry, violin
*Ruth Phillips, cello
*David Roach, alto, tenor saxophone

*"And Do They Do" recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London
**Engineer: John Kurlander

*"Zoo Caprices" recorded at The Michael Nyman Studio

*Produced by David Cunningham
*Post production: Nova Studios
*Digital editing at Finesplice Studios
*Editing engineer: Ben turner
*Mastered by Tim Young at CBS Studios
*Photography and cover design by David Buckland
*Album release co-oridnation: David Stoner
*Executive Producer: Gordon Yap