’The Mistress’ by Michael Nyman

’The Mistress’ is from the original motion picture score of 2004 film ’The Libertine’, directed by Laurence Dunmore. The music is performed by the Michael Nyman Orchestra with Hilary Summers and Andrew Slater and is available on MN Records: The film is a version of the celebrated Stephen Jeffreys play and stars Johnny Depp, John Malkovich and Samantha Morton. It tells the story of the 17th century Earl of Rochester (Depp), his friendship with King of England Charles II (Malkovich) and his affair with actress Elizabeth Barry (Morton). The Earl of Rochester was a legendary rake of the era and the film has been described as “outrageously sexy“. He managed to reconcile being a sensitive poet and a pornographer, was simultaneously a republican and friend of King Charles II and was passionately in love with both his wife and mistress. The film captures the sense of new possibilities at the dawn of the age of enlightenment. Nyman has been fortunate to work with directors who understand that music can add greatly to the overall impact of a film, directors who have allowed the music to have a solid presence in their films rather than simply act as background filler. Director Laurence Dunmore has wanted to work with Michael since he first heard his music in ’A Zed and Two Noughts’. For Nyman, there’s a direct link back to his first major soundtrack ’The Draughtsman’s Contract’ as both films are 17th Century based, visually stunning, comedies of manners.