Out of the Ruins touches on Gregorian chant and sacred music of the Baroque. This is a slowly evolving requiem that draws on Armenian traditions with no hint of Nyman’s signature propulsive rhythms.Some of the music can be heard in different form in Nyman’s third Quartet and the soundtrack for Carrington. In 1988 Armenia suffered a devastating earthquake in which caused widespread destruction and killed more than25 000 people. BBC director Agnieszka Piotrowska asked Michael Nyman to write a work to accompany a documentary she was making for the first anniversary and offered text from 10th century poet Grigor Narekatsi’s Book ofLamentations. Nyman is a contemporary British composer of richly layered modular minimalist pieces often incorporating period instruments or instrumentation outside the normal Orchestral offerings. He isparticularly well known for his film scores including The Piano The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover Prospero’s Books and The Claim among many others. His work is widely performed and recorded.

Balancing The Books was commissioned by the swingle singers for the Bach 250th anniversary celebrations. The work uses material from the C sharp Major Preludes from Bach's two books of the 48 Preludes and Fugues. This forms part of a series of new works by leading European composers. There are no words the singers use their own syllables. Scored for SSAATTBB.