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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is a 1985 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks describing the case histories of some of his patients. The title of the book comes from the case study of a man with visual agnosia. Apr 21, 2005 - on the recent UK report on the undue influence of pharma companies on doctors. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Michael Nyman. Maybe an extension of WorldWind ought to make the users act as a torrent?
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a one-act chamber opera by Michael Nyman to an English-language libretto by Christopher Rawlence, adapted from the case study of the same name by Oliver Sacks by Nyman, Rawlence, and Michael Morris. It was first performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, on 27 October 1986.
The minimalist score makes use of songs by Robert Schumann, in particular, 'Ich grolle nicht' from Dichterliebe, in which Dr. S. accompanies Dr. P., singing the ossia as a descant. Mrs. P. plays the piano, the actor actually playing if possible.
Roles[edit]
Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast,[1] 27 October 1986 (Conductor: Michael Nyman) |
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Dr. S., the neurologist | tenor | Emile Belcourt |
Dr. P., a singer and music professor | baritone | Frederick Westcott |
Mrs. P., his wife | soprano | Patricia Hooper |
Synopsis[edit]
The plot concerns the investigation by a neurologist of the condition of a singer who suffers from visual agnosia. According to the liner notes, Morris, Rawlence, and Nyman had to spend much time convincing the real Mrs. P. (whose husband is implied to have been a known name) that they were not proposing a musical (her word) that would trivialize her late husband's situation in order to gain her consent.
Film[edit]
Rawlence made a film version in 1987. It made brief omissions from the music (most notably the self-referential line, 'That's Nyman! Can't mistake his body rhythm,' when Dr. P. is watching television) and added documentary segments with Sacks and pathologistJohn Tighe working with the actual Dr. P.'s brain. They reveal that his condition was the result of Alzheimer's Disease that atypically affected only one portion of his brain until its latter stages. Unusually for an opera film not shot on a theatre stage, the singing was recorded live on-set by boom operators.
Returning from the original cast were Emile Belcourt as Dr. S. and Frederick Westcott as Dr. P. Patricia Hooper replaced Sarah Leonard as Mrs. P. The Michael Nyman Band appeared on-screen as Dr. P.'s students. Originally distributed on VHS by Films, Inc., its rarity has caused it to become a popular bootleg favorite[citation needed].
Recording[edit]
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat | ||||
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Design by Howard Fritzson painting: David Bomberg, Lyons Café, 1912 | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1988 | |||
Recorded | 1987 | |||
Genre | Opera, Contemporary classical music, minimalism | |||
Length | 57:05 | |||
Language | English, German | |||
Label | CBS Masterworks | |||
Producer | David Cunningham, Michael Nyman | |||
Michael Nyman chronology | ||||
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CBS Masterworks MK44669 (1987); Emile Belcourt (tenor), Sarah Leonard (soprano), Frederick Westcott (baritone), Alexander Balanescu (first violin), Jonathan Carney (second violin), Kate Musker (viola), Moray Welsh (first cello), Anthony Hinnigan (second cello), Helen Tunstall (harp), conducted by the composer. Carney, Musker, and Hinnigan, who will make up the first lineup of the Balanescu Quartet, make their first of many appearances on a Nyman album with this release.
External links[edit]
- Oliver Sacks, Michael Nyman, Michael Norris and Christopher Rawlance discuss The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - a British Library sound recording
Reference[edit]
- ^Clements, Andrew. The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. ICA Theatre, London - review. Opera, January 1987, Vol.38 No.1 p89-90.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales | |
---|---|
Oliver Sacks | |
United States | |
English | |
Neurology, Psychology | |
Case History | |
Summit Books, a division of Simon &Schuster | |
1985 | |
233 (First Edition) | |
0671554719 | |
12313889 | |
616.8 19 | |
RC351 .S195 1985 | |
A Leg to Stand On(1984) | |
Seeing Voices (1989) |
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and OtherClinical Tales is a 1985 book by neurologistOliver Sacksdescribing the case histories of some of his patients. The title ofthe book comes from the case study of a man with visualagnosia.[1]The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat became the basis ofan opera of thesame name by Michael Nyman, which premiered in1986.
The book comprises 24 essays split into 4 sections which eachdeal with a particular aspect of brain function such as deficitsand excesses in the first two sections (with particular emphasis onthe right hemisphere of the brain) while the third and fourthdescribe phenomenological manifestations with reference tospontaneous reminiscences, altered perceptions, and extraordinaryqualities of mind found in 'retardates'.[2]
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Content
The individual essays in this book include, but are not limitedto:
- 'The Lost Mariner', about Jimmie G., who has lost the abilityto form new memories due to Korsakoff's syndrome. He canremember nothing of his life since the end of WWII, includingevents that happened only a few minutes ago. He believes it isstill 1945 (in the late 70s and early 80s), and seems to behave asa normal, intelligent young man aside from his inability toremember most of his past and the events of his day-to-day life. Hestruggles to find meaning, satisfaction, and happiness in the midstof constantly forgetting what he is doing from one moment to thenext.
- 'The President's Speech',[3] about award of aphasiacs and agnosiacs listening to a speechgiven by an unnamed actor-president, 'the old Charmer,' presumablyRonald Reagan.Many in the first group were laughing at the speech, and Sacksclaims their laughter to be at the president's facialexpressions and tone, which they find 'not genuine.' One womanin the latter group criticizes the structure of the president'ssentences, stating that he 'does not speak good prose.'
- 'The Disembodied Lady', a unique case of a woman losing herentire sense of proprioception (the sense of theposition of parts of the body, relative to other neighbouring partsof the body).
- 'On The Level', another case involving damaged proprioception.Dr. Sacks interviews a patient who has trouble walking upright anddiscovers that he has lost his innate sense of balance due to Parkinson's-like symptoms that havedamaged his inner ears; the patient, comparing his sense of balanceto a carpenter's spirit level, suggests the construction ofa similar level inside a pair of glasses, which enables him tojudge his balance by sight.
- 'The Twins', about autistic savants.Dr. Sacks meets twin brothers who can neither read nor performmultiplication, yet are playing a 'game' of finding very large prime numbers. Whilethe twins were able to spontaneously generate these numbers, fromsix to twenty digits, Sacks had to resort to a book of primenumbers to join in with them. This was used in the film House of Cards starringTommy LeeJones. The twins also instantly count 111 dropped matches,simultaneously remarking that 111 is three 37s. This event, withtoothpicks in place of matches,[4] wasused in the film RainMan, starring Dustin Hoffman. This story has beenquestioned by Makoto Yamaguchi, who doubts that a book of largeprime numbers could exist as described, and points out thatreliable scientific reports only support approximate perceptionwhen rapidly counting large numbers of items.[5][6]Autistic savant Daniel Tammet points out that the twinsprovided the matchbox and may have counted its contents in advance,noting that he finds the value of 111 to be 'particularly beautifuland matchstick-like'.[7]
- 'The Dog Beneath the Skin', concerning a 22-year-old medicalstudent, 'Stephen D.', who, after a night under the influence of amphetamines, cocaine, and PCP, wakes to find he has a tremendouslyheightened sense ofsmell.[1]Many years later, Sacks would reveal that he was, in fact, StephenD.[8]
In popularculture
Christopher Rawlence wrote the libretto for a chamber opera,directed by Michael Morris with music by Michael Nyman, based onthe title story. 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' was firstproduced by the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in1986.
A television version of the opera was subsequently broadcast inthe UK.
Peter Brook adapted Sacks's book into an acclaimed theatricalproduction, 'L'Homme Qui...', which premiered at the Theatre desBouffes du Nord, Paris, in 1993.
An Indian theatre company, performed a play The BlueMug, based on the book, starring Rajat Kapoor, Konkona SenSharma, RanvirShorey and VinayPathak.
The title of Kisschasy's third album Seizures was chosenafter lead singer Darren read the book.[9]
A man with Anterograde memory loss named Jimmy G. is the subjectof one chapter, sharing the name of a character in Memento, a movie where the mainprotagonist has the same defect.
See also
- [1], The Man WhoMistook His Wife for a Hat, the official site
- The ManWho, an album by the Scottishindie pop band Travis named after this book.
Externallinks
References
- ^ abSacks, Oliver (December 1985). The ManWho Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Other Clinical Tales.Summit Books. ISBN0671554719.
- ^Sacks, 1985. p.163.
- ^'The President'sSpeech'. Junkfoodforthought.com. 2008-04-01
. http://www.junkfoodforthought.com/long/Sacks_Reagan.htm . Retrieved2009-08-17. - ^'Is Integer ArithmeticFundamental to Mental Processing? The mind's secretarithmetic'. http://www.centreforthemind.com/publications/integerarithmetic.cfm. Retrieved2009-10-28.
- ^'Questionable Aspects ofOliver Sacks' (1985) Report'. Secamlocal.ex.ac.uk
. http://secamlocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin/isoc/sacks-yamaguchi.htm . Retrieved2009-08-17. - ^'Response to Snyder's'Comments on Priming Skills of Autistic Twins'.' (PDF)
. http://www.secamlocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin/isoc/yamaguchi-snyder.pdf . Retrieved2009-08-17. - ^Wilson, Peter (January 31, 2009). 'A savvy savant finds hisvoice'. The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24986084-26040,00.html. Retrieved2009-03-12.
- ^Sacks, Oliver (2007-10-22).Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. Alfred A.Knopf. pp. 158. ISBN978-1-4000-4081-0.
- ^http://www.bluntmag.com.au/blunt-bands-kisschasy.html