Michael Nyman Michael Nyman

Born: 23 March 1944, London, England.

Biography:
Michael Nyman studied at the Royal Academy of Music and King's College, London. Despite graduating with honours, and with a healthy interest in everything from sixteenth century classical music to Romanian folk tunes, Nyman chose not to embrace composing right away, and for over a decade, built a solid reputation as journalist and columnist working for magazines such as The Listener, New Statesman and The Spectator. It was Nyman, in a review of "The Great Learning" by English composer Cornelius Cardew, who introduced the word 'minimalism' as a description in music. Throughout this time, Nyman 'kept his finger in' the music world, writing arrangements, and performing with a number of orchestras and bands. Following the publication of his best-selling book "Experimental Music - Cage and Beyond" in 1974, Nyman was finally tempted back into the musical fold by Harrison Birtwistle, Director of Music at the National Theatre, who invited him to arrange some eighteenth century Venetian music for a musical production. The resulting band that Nyman put together eventually transformed into The Michael Nyman Band, with Nyman writing original music simply so that they could play it. During this time, Nyman met and formed a friendship with British director Peter Greenaway, who subsequently hired him to score his movie "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982), setting in motion Nyman's film music career. Nyman has since gone on to score most of Greenaway's films, including "A Zed and Two Noughts (1985)", "Drowning by Numbers" (1987), "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" (1989) and "Prospero's Books" (1991), and has achieved box office success with a number of other titles, including "The Piano" (1993), "Carrington" (1995), "Gattaca" (1997), "The End of the Affair" (1999) and "Ravenous" (1999, with Damon Albarn). In addition to his film work, Nyman remains active in the classical music world, and is one of the leading British composers working in this field today. His non-film works include several string quartets, a trombone concerto, a saxophone concerto, many original orchestral pieces ("Where the Bee Dances", "Strong On Oaks/Strong on the Causes of Oaks"), two operas ("The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat", 1986 and "Facing Goya", 2000), a score for an interactive CD ROM video game ("Enemy Zero", 1995), and a tone poem based on David King's novel The Comissar Vanishes.

Reviews:
The Claim, The End of the Affair, Gattaca, Nathalie, The Piano, Ravenous and Wonderland

Filmography:
Therese Raquin (2008), Never Forever (2007), Theresa: The Body of Christ (2007), Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2006), Detroit: Ruin of a City (2005), Jestem (2005), Charged: The Life of Nikolai Tesla (2004), The Libertine (2004), Luminal (2004), The Actors (2003), Nathalie (2003), 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman (2002), Subterrain (2001), Acts Without Words (2000), The Claim (2000), That Sinking Feeling (2000), The End of the Affair (1999), Ravenous (1999), Wonderland (1999), Gattaca (1997), The Ogre (1996), Carrington (1995), The Diary of Anne Frank (1995), Six Days Six Nights (1994), The Piano (1993), The Fall of Icarus (1992), Songbook (1992), The Hairdresser's Husband (1991), Les Enfants Volants (1991), Prospero's Books (1991), Men of Steel (1990), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Monsieur Hire (1989), Out of the Ruins (1989), Death in the Seine (1988), Drowning by Numbers (1987), Fairly Secret Army (1987), Ballet Méchanique (1986), The Disputation (1986), L'Ange Frénétique (1985), A Zed & Two Noughts (1985), The Cold Room (1984), Frozen Music (1983), Nelly's Version (1983), Brimstone and Treacle (1982), The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), Act of God (1980), The Falls (1980), Vertical Features Remake (1978), 1-100 (1977), A Walk Through H (1977), Keep It Up Downstairs (1976).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2007 (adjusted for inflation):
The Piano ($68.7m), Gattaca ($19.3m), The End of the Affair ($15.1m), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover ($12.9m), Carrington ($5.3m), The Libertine ($5.1m), Prospero’s Books ($2.9m), Ravenous ($2.8m), Monsieur Hire (£2.4m)

Links:
Official Site

Awards:
1999 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - The End of the Affair
1997 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Gattaca
1999 BAFTA Awards - Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - The End of the Affair
1993 BAFTA Awards - Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - The Piano

24 Hours in the Life of a Woman The Actors Carrington The Claim The Cold Room The Commisar Vanishes/The Fall of Icarus The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover The Diary of Anne Frank The Draughtsman's Contract Drowning by Numbers The End of the Affair Gattaca The Hairdresser's Husband The Libertine Out of the Ruins The Piano Practical Magic (Rejected Score) Prospero's Books Ravenous Six Days Six Nights Songbook Wonderland A Zed & Two Noughts


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