Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds is a piece of

minimalist music In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-m ...

from the soundtrack for ''

The Draughtsman's Contract ''The Draughtsman's Contract'' is a 1982 British period comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway – his first conventional feature film (following the feature-length mockumentary '' The Falls''). Originally produced for Channel ...

'', written by

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

. In the forty years since its release it has been much quoted and sampled and performed by various ensembles. The main motif of first and third part is based on the Prelude to Act III, Scene 2 of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

’s opera,

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

, the motif of the middle part is based on the aria

Madamina, il catalogo è questo "" (also known as the Catalogue Aria) is a bass (voice type), bass catalogue aria from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's opera ''Don Giovanni'' to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, and is one of Mozart's most famous and popular arias. It is ...

from

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's opera,

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

Versions

There are different arrangements of this piece, one of which is broadcast on

Classic FM TV Classic FM TV was a television channel owned by British radio station Classic FM. Until 14 December 2007 it was available as a television channel on the Sky Digital satellite and Virgin Media cable TV services. After that, Classic FM TV only bro ...

, performed by the

Michael Nyman Band The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, ''Il Campiello'' directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic. The band did not wish to break up aft ...

, which was not the original arrangement for the film. Another different version was recorded by

Wingates Band Wingates Band is a brass band based in Wingates, a settlement near the town of Westhoughton in North West England, north-west England. It is considered one of the country's finest contesting bands and competes in the Brass Band Sections in Bri ...

and comes from the Album "

Nyman Brass Nyman is an English and Swedish surname. The name originates from Anglo-Saxon culture. The name is derived from the words neowe, niwe, and nige which all mean new, and the word mann, meaning man. The name was traditionally given to newcomers. Othe ...

". In the original film, the piece was performed much more slowly than re-recorded versions. It did however have a similar arrangement, with a

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

with the lead melody. In the Wingates Band version, the melody is in the high range of the band. In the Michael Nyman Band version, the bassline is in the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, played by Michael Nyman himself, playing

chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...

. In the Wingates Band version, it is running quavers in the

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

line.

In popular culture

The theme was used as early as 1984 for the opening sequence and the Rolls-Royce plots in the Jean-Daniel Cadinot movie

Sex Drive In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...

(''Stop Surprise'' in the original). It is also used in the opening titles of the 2006 film,

A Cock and Bull Story ''A Cock and Bull Story'' (marketed in Australia, New Zealand and the United States as ''Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story'', and also credited as such) is a 2005 British comedy film directed by Michael Winterbottom. It is a Story within ...

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

rearranged the piece as the B-side to their 1998 single Generation Sex, performed alongside The Michael Nyman Band. "Chasing Sheep" was used in an episode of the motoring show

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

, during a race from the studio in Dunsfold Park near

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

to Casino Square,

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

between an

Aston Martin DB9 The Aston Martin DB9 is a two-door grand tourer car that was produced in Gaydon, Warwickshire, by the British carmaker Aston Martin. It was manufactured as a coupé starting in 2004 and as a convertible known as the Volante from 2005, until th ...

and the

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

. ( Series 4, Episode 1) An excerpt from the piece was used in a 2002 British TV advertisement for

Walkers Crisps Walkers Snack Foods Limited, trading as Walkers, is a British snack food manufacturer mainly operating in the UK and Ireland. The company is best known for manufacturing potato crisps and other snack foods. In 2013, it held 56% of the Britis ...

, featuring

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline, Lady Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spic ...

and

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

. The melody line of the piece is quoted by the

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

on the track Love Is a Bourgeois Construct from their 2013 album ''

Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

''. It was the wake-up call music on Flight Day 8 of NASA mission

STS-111 STS-111 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-111 resupplied the station and replaced the Expedition 4 crew with the Expedition 5 crew. It was launched on 5 June 2002, fr ...

.STS-111 Wake-up Calls
- spaceflight.nasa.gov The song is prominently played for the ending credits of the 2015 French film Marguerite. In the UK, it was often used to open historical features on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

current affairs television programme

Daily Politics ''Daily Politics'' is a BBC Television programme which aired between 6 January 2003 and 24 July 2018, presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn. ''Daily Politics'' took an in-depth review of the daily events in both Westminster and other areas a ...

. The theme was used as an introduction to the band

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...

at an October 2019 concert at

Red Rocks Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the city of Denver. In addi ...

Morrison, Colorado Morrison is a home rule municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 396 at the 2020 census. History This small foothills settlement is named after George Morrison (April 16, 1822 – June 11, 1895), a builde ...

References

{{authority control Michael Nyman songs 1984 songs