Pianist and composer, born in London, UK. He formed the Michael Nyman Band in 1977, for which he composed several works characterized by highly charged, stylized, rhythmical chord progressions, much influenced by Purcell, in which his own piano playing is a driving force. His compositions include scores for the films of Peter Greenaway, and for the films and The Piano (1993), Carrington (1995), and The Libertine (2004), as well as a chamber opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986). Later works include string quartets, concertos for piano (1994) and trombone (1995), and the opera Facing Goya (2000). A selection of film music, The Very Best of Michael Nyman 19802001, appeared in 2001. In 2004 a number of his works were re-released on CD to commemorate his 60th birthday.
| Michael Nyman | |
|---|---|
|
Michael Nyman. Nyman studied music composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Nyman, who had studied with the noted Baroque music scholar Thurston Dart at King's College London, drew frequently on early music sources in his scores for Greenaway's films: Henry Purcell in The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Nyman's popularity increased significantly after he wrote the score to Jane Campion's award-winning 1993 film The Piano. Many of Nyman's works are written for his own ensemble, the Michael Nyman Band, a group formed for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's Il Campiello. Nyman also published an influential book in 1974 on experimental music called Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, which explored the influence of John Cage on classical composers. Career highlights1961-67 - Studies at the Royal Academy of Music and King's College, London. 1968-78 - Works as music critic (becoming first person to apply the word "minimalist" to music). 1976 - Founds the Campiello Band (now the Michael Nyman Band) and embarks on eleven-film collaboration with Peter Greenaway. 1981 - Releases first Michael Nyman Band album. 1993 - Soundtrack for The Piano wins an Ivor Novello Award and goes on to sell over three million copies. 2002-2005 - Composer-in-Residence at Badisches Staats theater in Karlsruhe, Germany, who performed three Nyman operas and more tunes for his daughters. 1974 - Bell Set No. 1 (multiple metal percussion) 1976 - 1-100 (4-6 pianos) 1976 - Waltz in F (variable) 1977 - In Re Don Giovanni (ensemble) 1978 - The Otherwise Very Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz 1979 - The 'Masterwork' Award-Winning Fish-Knife (ensemble) 1980 - A Neat Slice of Time (choir) 1981 - Think Slow, Act Fast (ensemble) 1981 - Five Orchestral Pieces Opus Tree (band) 1981 - M-Work (band) 1981 - 2 Violins 1982 - Four Saxes (Real Slow Drag) (saxophone quartet) 1983 - Love is Certainly, at Least Alphabetically Speaking (soprano and band) 1983 - A Handsom, Smooth, Sweet, Smart, Clear Stroke: Or Else Play Not At All (orchestra) 1983 - Time's Up (chamber ensemble) 1983 - I'll Stake My Cremona to a Jew's Crump (simultaneous singing) 1984 - The Abbess of Andouillets (choir) 1985 - Nose-List Song (soprano and orchestra) [this and the above two works are from an unfinished opera setting of Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, which Nyman has repeatedly cited as his all-time favorite book] 1985 - Child's Play (2 violins; harpsichord) 1985 - String Quartet No. 1 1986 - Taking a Line for a Second Walk (for orchestra or piano duet) 1986 - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (opera; adapted from the Oliver Sacks case study by Nyman, Rawlence, and Michael Morris) 1986 - And Do They Do (modern dance, 1986) 1987 - Vital Statistics (opera; libretto by Victoria Hardie) 1988 - String Quartet No. 2 1989 - Out of the Ruins (choir) 1989 - La Traversée de Paris (soprano and band) 1989 - The Fall of Icarus (band) 1989 - L'Orgie Parisienne Arthur Rimbaud setting (soprano or mezzo soprano and orchestra) 1990 - Shaping the Curve (soprano saxophone, string quartet or piano) 1990 - Six Celan Songs (contralto and orchestra) 1990 - Polish Love Song (soprano and piano) 1990 - String Quartet No. 3 1991 - Where the Bee Dances (soprano saxophone and orchestra) 1991 - Fluegelhorn and Piano 1992 - Time Will Pronounce (violin, cello, and piano) 1992 - For John Cage (brass ensemble) 1992 - Self-Laudatory Hymn of Inanna and Her Omnipotence (alto and string orchestra or countertenor and viol consort) 1992 - The Convertibility of Lute Strings (solo harpsichord) 1992 - Anne de Lucy Songs (soprano and piano) 1992 - The Upside-Down Violin (orchestra/ensemble) 1993 - MGV: Musique à grande vitesse (band and orchestra) 1993 - The Piano Concerto (piano and orchestra) 1993 - Noises, Sounds & opera-ballet setting William Shakespeare's The Tempest) 1993 - Yamamoto Perpetuo (violin solo) 1993 - Songs for Tony (saxophone quartet) 1994 - To Morrow (soprano or soprano saxophone, organ) 1994 - Three Quartets (ensemble) 1994 - Concerto for Trombone (trombone, orchestra, and steel filing cabinets) 1995 - String Quartet No. 4 1995 - Tango for Tim (In memoriam Tom Suster) (harpsichord) 1995 - The Waltz Song (unison voices) 1995 - Viola and Piano 1995 - Grounded (mezzo-soprano, saxophones, violin, piano) 1995 - HRT [High Rise Terminal] (chamber ensemble) 1995 - Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings 1995 - Double Concerto for Saxophone and Cello (saxophone, cello, and orchestra) 1996 - After Extra Time (ensemble) 1997 - Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks (orchestra) 1998 - Cycle of Disquietude (Coisas, Vozes, Lettras) (soprano, mezzo-soprano, and band) 1998 - Orfeu (band) 1998 - De Granada A La Luna (band) 1999 - The Comissar Vanishes (band) 2000 - Facing Goya (opera; libretto by Victoria Hardie) 2001 - a dance he little thinks of (orchestra) 2003 - Violin Concerto (violin and orchestra) 2003 - Man and Boy: Dada (opera)Music for films, television, and video games5 Postcards from Capital Cities (1967) Goole by Numbers (1976) Keep It Up Downstairs (1976) Tom Phillips (1977) A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist (1978) Vertical Features Remake (1978) 1-100 (1978) The Falls (1980) Act of God (1980) Terence Conran (1981) The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) Brimstone & Treacle (1982) (collaboration with Sting) Nelly's Version (1983) The Coastline (1983) Making a Splash (1984) The Cold Room (1984) Fairly Secret Army (1984) A Zed & 1921 film) I'll Stake My Cremona to a Jew's Trump (1986) The Disputation (1986) Le Miraculé (1987) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1987) Fear of Drowning (1988) Death in the Seine (1988) Drowning by Numbers (1988) Out of the Ruins (1989) Hubert Bals Handshake (1989) Monsieur Hire (1989) The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) Men of Steel (1990) Les Enfants volants (1990) The Hairdresser's Husband (1990) Ich war ein glücklicher Mensch (1991) Prospero's Books (1991) Not Mozart: Letters, Riddles and Writs (1991) The Fall of Icarus (1992) The Final Score (1992) The Piano (1993) Mesmer (1994) À la folie (1994) The Diary of Anne Frank (1995) Carrington (1995) The Ogre (1996) Enemy Zero (1996) Anzar (1997) Gattaca (1997) Titch (1998) Practical Magic (1998) (unused score; 2 cuts made it onto early soundtrack pressings) Ravenous (1999) (collaboration with Damon Albarn) Wonderland (1999) Nabbie's Love (1999) The End of the Affair (1999) Act Without Words I (2000) The Claim (2000) Man with a Movie Camera (1929 film; 2001 score) Subterrain (2001) Haute fidélité (2001) 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman (2001) The Actors (2003) Nathalie... (2003) Luminal (2004) The Libertine (2004) Jestem (2005) A Cock and Bull Story (2006) (original arrangement of George Frideric Handel's "Sarabande"; re-used recordings from The Draughtsman's Contract)Nyman's music re-usedThis list is incomplete; Nyman's "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" (from The Piano) was used as backing music for one of the bank advertisements for Lloyds TSB broadcast on television. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story contains music from The Draughtsman's Contract, as well as Nyman's arrangements of classical music used in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (it does not use any music from Nyman's Tristram Shandy opera). Popular "Chasing sheep is best left to sheperds" (from "The Draughtman Contract") constituted the main theme of spanish TV program "Queremos Saber", presented by Mercedes Milà in the ninetiesSelected recordingsMan and Boy: Dada - MN Records 102 The Very Best of Michael Nyman Film Music 1980-2001 - Virgin EMI CDVED957 String Quartets Nos 1-3 - Decca 4730912ListeningMichael Nyman audio at Internet Archive |
User Comments Add a comment…