Michael Nyman Biography (1944-)

Full name, Michael Lawrence Nyman; born March 23, 1944, in London, England; son of Mark and Jeannette Nyman; married Aet Toome, May 16, 1970; children: two daughters. Addresses: Contact: Screen Composers of America, 2451 Nichols Canyon Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90046-1734.

Nationality: British
Gender: Male
Occupation: Composer, music director, musician, writer
Birth Details: March 23, 1944; London, England

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Music Producer
A la folie (also known as Alice et Elsa and Six Days, Six Nights), New Light Films, 1994
Der Unhold (also known as The Ogre and Le Roi des aulnes), Kino International, 1996
Wonderland, USA Films, 1999
Music Director
Drowning by Numbers, Vendex, 1988
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (also known as Le Cuisinier, le voleur, sa femme et son amant and Spica), Erato, 1989
Prospero's Books (also known as L'Ultima tempesta),Miramax, 1991
Other Film Work
Director, Love Love Love, 1968
Music arranger, Keep It Up Downstairs, 1976
Music supervisor, The Draughtsman's Contract, United Artists,1982
Music arranger (Stephen Foster and Philip Phile pieces) and orchestrator,Ravenous (also known as Voraz), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1999
Film Appearances
Himself, I'll Stake My Cremona to a Jew's Trump, 1986
The Michael Nyman Songbook (documentary), London Records, 1992
Colonna sonora (documentary), 1992
Contact, Hell's Paradox, 1995
Television Work
Miniseries
Orchestrator, Nuremberg, TNT, 2000
Television Appearances
Movies
Man in crowd, The Final Score, 1992
Episodic
Court pianist, "Letters, Riddles and Writs," Not Mozart, BBC-TV, 1991
RECORDINGS
Albums
The Michael Nyman Songbook, London Records, 1992
The Convertibility of Lute Strings, Argo, 1993
For John Cage, Argo, 1993
Goodbye Frankie, Goodbye Benny, Argo, 1993
Other recordings include The Draughtsman's Contract, A Zedand Two Noughts, Drowning by Numbers, The Cook, the Thief, HisWife, and Her Lover, Bell Set Number One, and The Fourth Wall, all Virgin; Decay Music, Obscure; Michael Nyman, Sheet; Ariel Songs: Come and Go; While You Here Do Snoring Lie; Full Fathom Five, I Am an Unusual Thing, and Lorgie Parisienne, all Decca; The Kiss and Other Movements, Caroline; And Do They Do and Zoo Caprices, both That's Entertainment Records; The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, CBS Masterworks; Out of the Ruins, Silva Screen;Prospero's Books, String Quartets 1-3, and The Essential Michael Nyman Band, all London.
WRITINGS
Film Scores
5 Postcards from Capital Cities, 1967
Keep It Up Downstairs, 1976
Goole by Numbers, 1976
A Walk through H (also known as The Re-Incarnation of an Ornithologist), 1976
Tom Phillips, 1977
1-100, 1978
Vertical Features Remake, 1978
The Falls, 1980
Terence Conran (also known as Insight: Terence Conran), 1981
The Draughtsman's Contract, United Artists, 1982
Frozen Music, 1983
Nelly's Version, 1983
The Coastline (also known as The Sea in Their Blood), 1983

The Cold Room (also known as The Prisoner and Cold Room-Kalter Hauch der Vergangenheit), 1984
Making a Splash, 1984
L'Ange frenetique, 1985
A Zed and Two Noughts (also known as A Zoo: A Zed and Two Noughts), Skouras, 1985
The Kiss, 1985
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire, 1985 (also known as 26 Bathrooms), 1985
Ballet Mechanique, 1986
The Disputation, 1986
Le Miracule, 1986
I'll Stake My Cremona to a Jew's Trump, 1986
Photographic Exhibits, 1987
Drowning by Numbers, Vendex, 1988
Death in the Seine (also known as Les Morts de la Seine), 1989
Monsieur Hire (also known as M. Hire), Orion, 1989
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (also known as LeCuisinier, le voleur, sa femme et son amant and Spica), Erato, 1989
Le Mari de la coiffeuse (also known as The Hairdresser's Husband), 1990
Prospero's Books (also known as L'Ultima tempesta),Miramax, 1991
Les Enfants volants (also known as The Flying Children), 1991
The Fall of Icarus, 1992
The Piano (also known as La Lecon de piano), Miramax, 1993
A la folie (also known as Alice et Elsa and Six Days, Six Nights), New Light Films, 1994
Mesmer, Mayfair Entertainment/Nomadic Pictures, 1994
Carrington, 1995
Anne no nikki (also known as The Diary of Anne Frank), AF Production, 1995
Der Unhold (also known as The Ogre and Le Roi des aulnes), Kino International, 1996
Gattaca, Columbia, 1997
Ravenous (also known as Voraz), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1999
How to Make Dhyrak: A Dramatic Work for Three Players and Camera, Truncated with Only Two Players (music adapted from Ravenous), 1999
Wonderland, USA Films, 1999
The End of the Affair, Columbia, 1999
Nabbie no koi (also known as Nabbie's Love), 1999
The Claim, United Artists, 2000
Other Film Music
Additional music, Brimstone and Treacle, 1982
Song "Water Dances," La Stanza del figlio (also known as The Son's Room), Bac Films, 2001
Television Music
Movies
Act of God, 1980
The Final Score, 1992
Series
Fairly Secret Army, 1984
Fairly Secret Army Series 2, 1987
Theme song, Titch, CiTV, 1998
Miniseries
Nuremberg, TNT, 2000
Specials
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, ICA-TV, 1987
Dancing in Numbers, Channel 4 (England), 1988
Act without Words 1, 2000
Episodic
Touch the Earth," Danceworks, BBC2-TV, 1988
"Out of the Ruins," 40 Minutes, BBC-TV, 1989
"Men of Steel," Inside Story, BBC-TV, 1990
"Letters, Riddles and Writs" (opera), Not Mozart, BBC-TV, 1991
Operas
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Institute of ContemporaryArts, London, 1986
La Princesse de Milan (dance opera; written for a ballet by KarineSaporta; based on text from William Shakespeare's The Tempest), Avignon Festival, 1991
(With Jeremy Newson) Letters, Riddles and Writs, Shaw Theatre, London, 1992
Dance Music
(With Paul Richards and Bruce McLean) The Masterwork/Award-Winning Fishknife (performance art/theatre work), Riverside Studios, London, 1979
A Broken Set of Rules (ballet), Royal Opera House, London, 1984
Portraits in Reflection (ballet), Lucinda Child's Dance Company, first concert performance, Almeida Theatre, London, 1985; first dance performance, Joyce Theatre, 1986
And Do They Do (ballet), London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, 1986
Touch the Earth (ballet), Rosemary Butcher Dance Company, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1987
Miniatures (solo dance work), The Place Theatre, London, 1988
Configurations (for three or four dancers), Queen Elizabeth Hall,London, 1989
(With Frederic Flamand and Fabrizio Plessi) The Fall of Icarus, Theatre de le Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium, 1989
(With Francois Raffinot) Garden Party, first produced in Montpellier, France, 1990
Video Game Music
Enemy Zero, 1996
Other
Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, Schirmer Books, 1974
Also contributor to magazines and journals, including The Listener, Studio International, Spectator, and New Statesman.

Further Reference

Adaptations

Compositions by Nyman recorded by others include 1-100, November 14, 1986, p. 26. Piano Circus, London; Polish Love Song; Mary Wiegold/The Composers Ensemble, NMC; and Where the Bee Dances, John Harle/Bournemouth Sinfonietta, London; music from A Zed and Two Noughts used inthe television series Ryori no tetsujin (also known as Iron Chef.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals

New Statesman,
New York Times, March 15, 1992, p. H36.
Time, October 26, 1987, p. 126.

Electronic

Official website, http://www.michaelnyman.org.

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