Michael Nyman - The Promise

Music plays a huge role in my writing. Entire stories have sprung up from hearing a simple lyric. Part of my routine, aside from coffee and smoke, has been the presence of music that moves me, lifts me, takes me into the mind of a character.

Years ago, my wife picked up an audio cassette at a yard sale. It was labeled simply "Piano Reflections." One one side, a collection of works by Chopin, Debussy, Pachelbel and others; on the other, an orchestral piece comprising strings and piano together in a clearly neo-classical movement-based symphony. We used to fall asleep to this, and for years I tried to seek out its composer, to no success.

The defining theme of the piece is this piano concerto. Closing my eyes, I used to lay in bed at night and think of the snowstorms that ravaged the Michigan landscape of my upbringing. I'm one of those rare people for whom music elicits a synesthetic response, so forget the video that comes attached to this piece--I just close my eyes and let the music do for me what it does.

Seriously, close your eyes and listen to this. It's technically English, but tell me it doesn't carry the unique minimalist touch of an American composer. I honestly thought of Copland and Barber when hearing this for the first time. I think that this piece carries a certain correlation to elements in the natural world, and I think that there's something unique in the response of American musicians in their exposure to nature.

This song will inspire my next book. I can't wait. What do you guys think of it?