Michael Nyman

Self Laudatory Hymn of Inanna

Michael Nyman was inspired to write this single-movement piece Self Laudatory Hymn Of Inanna And Her Omnipotence in 1992 after having discovered the text in the library of a friend. The words belong to Inanna, the Queen oftheHeavens in the Sumerian religion, who proclaims audaciously all that her father, Enil, has bestowed upon her. Nyman composed the piece for counterTenor James Bowman and recorded it on his eighteenth album, Time WillPronounce:The 1992 Commissions. Unlike many of Nyman's other albums, this one features only one member of the Michael Nyman Band. Nyman is a contemporary British composer of richly layered, modular minimalist pieces, oftenincorporatingperiod instruments or instrumentation outside the normal Orchestral offerings. He is particularly well known for his film scores, including The Piano, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Prospero's Books andThe Claim, among many others. His work is widely performed.