Michael Nyman facts for kids

Nyman in 2015

Michael Laurence Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a famous English composer, pianist, and filmmaker. He is best known for writing the music for many movies. His most famous work is the soundtrack for the film The Piano, which sold millions of copies.

Nyman has also written many operas, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He has composed music for his group, the Michael Nyman Band, as well as for orchestras and smaller groups. Besides composing, he is also a talented pianist. Nyman has said that he enjoys writing operas more than any other type of music.

Early Life and Schooling

Nyman was born in Stratford, a part of London, England. His family was originally from Poland.

He went to Sir George Monoux Grammar School. From 1961 to 1967, he studied music at King's College London and the Royal Academy of Music. He focused on piano and baroque music, which is a style of European music from the 17th century. He was a great student and even won an award for his compositions in 1964. He also spent time in Romania studying traditional folk songs.

Music Career

Becoming a Music Critic

Nyman found his unique musical style in a fun way. He played a famous song from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni on his piano but in the energetic style of rock and roll star Jerry Lee Lewis. He said this experiment shaped the sound of all his music that followed. This idea later became his 1977 piece In Re Don Giovanni.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nyman worked as a music critic, writing about music for magazines. He was one of the first people to use the word "minimalism" to describe a style of music. Minimalist music often uses repeated patterns and simple ideas. He also wrote a popular book called Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, which explored new and unusual ideas in classical music.

The Michael Nyman Band

In 1976, Nyman started a group called the Campiello Band, which soon became the Michael Nyman Band. At first, they used a mix of old instruments like rebecs and shawms with modern ones like saxophones. Their goal was to make a very loud sound without using microphones or speakers. Later, the band switched to a fully amplified lineup with a string quartet, saxophones, brass instruments, bass guitar, and piano.

Nyman wrote many of his most famous pieces for this band. He also had a fun side, playing piano for the Portsmouth Sinfonia, an orchestra that proudly called itself the "World's Worst Orchestra."

Music for Movies

Nyman became very well known for the music he wrote for films. He worked closely with director Peter Greenaway on eleven movies. For these films, Nyman often used ideas from early composers like Henry Purcell and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Some of his famous film scores from this time include:

• The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
• A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)
• Drowning by Numbers (1988)
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
• Prospero's Books (1991)

Success with 'The Piano'

Nyman at the 2009 Venice Film Festival

In 1993, Nyman's fame grew worldwide when he composed the music for Jane Campion's movie The Piano. The soundtrack album was a huge hit, selling over three million copies. It won many awards, including an Ivor Novello Award and a Golden Globe.

After this success, he wrote music for Hollywood movies like Gattaca (1997) and The End of the Affair (1999). He also worked with musician Damon Albarn on the score for the film Ravenous (1999).

21st-Century Projects

Nyman continued to be very busy in the 2000s. He wrote several more operas, including Facing Goya, about the idea of cloning, and Love Counts. He also composed music for the children's TV show Titch.

He has performed his music all over the world. In 2007, he performed at the Live Earth concert in Japan, which was held to raise awareness about the environment. In 2015, he performed his music for the silent film Man with a Movie Camera to a crowd of 15,000 people in Odesa, Ukraine.

Personal Life and Awards

Nyman was married to Aet Nyman, and they have two daughters, Molly and Martha. Molly is also a composer who writes music for films.

In 2008, Nyman was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a high honor in the United Kingdom, for his services to music. He has received many other awards for his work, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the World Soundtrack Academy in 2025.

Famous Works

Nyman has composed hundreds of pieces of music. Here are some of his most well-known works:

Film Scores

• The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
• Prospero's Books (1991)
• The Piano (1993)
• Gattaca (1997)
• Wonderland (1999)
• The End of the Affair (1999)

Operas

• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986)
• Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs (1993)
• Facing Goya (2000)
• Man and Boy: Dada (2003)
• Love Counts (2005)

Concert Music

• In Re Don Giovanni (1977)
• MGV: Musique à Grande Vitesse (1993)
• The Piano Concerto (1993)
• String Quartets 1–3 (1985-1990)
• Where the Bee Dances (1991) for saxophone and orchestra

See also

In Spanish: Michael Nyman para niños

• List of ambient music artists