Reviews

• ...The Musicologist Scores--its title a reminder that he had a prehistory in editing Baroque music before resuming his own distinctive compositional course. More intricate than the 1980s film score material surrounding it in this programme, the piece covered a slightly wider harmonic and textual range, including a bizarre, quasi-Palm Court rendition of Handel's most famous aria, without disengaging from the manic high-energy soundworld they occupy with such resilient, not to say head-banging punchiness.
  George Hall, Guardian, 27/08/2009
• The world premiere of Nyman's The Musicologist Scores layered citations from Handel and Purcell over slowly evolving harmonies. The work acknowledged David Drew, the late musicologist who helped to influence Nyman's career and its melodic fragments tool on an indulgent quality. Occasionally this bordered on sentimentality but Nyman's rhythmic insistence provided enough tension to rescue them from this fate.
  Hannah Nepil, The Financial Times, 27/08/2009
• ... exuberant, joyous, jubilant and triumphant.
  Bob Briggs, The Opera Critic, 27/08/2009
• ... one of Nyman's most impressive recent compositions.
  Ben Hogwood, www.classicalsource.com, 27/08/2009