Nyman, Michael (b London, 1944). English composer and writer. Visited Romania to collect folksongs. Wrote on mus., 1964–76, in The Listener, New Statesman, and Spectator. Claims to have introduced word ‘minimalism’ as a description of mus. (in review of Cornelius Cardew's The Great Learning). In 1974 wrote Experimental Music—Cage and Beyond, in which he celebrated Cage's influence in freeing composers from restraints of academic serialism. In 1976 was invited by Birtwistle to arr. 18th-cent. Venetian popular mus. for Nat. Th. prod. of Goldoni's Il Campiello. Formed band to perf. it and after run of play ended, began to write mus. for band (all instr. amp.) to play. Collaboration with the film maker Peter Greenaway from 1977 established him as a leading film composer. Several of his works, e.g. I'll Stake my Cremona to a Jew's Trump (1983), metamorphose material taken from Mozart, symbolic of a distinctive style devised by creative synthesis of many strands from many periods. Works incl.:OPERAS: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat (1987); Letters, Riddles and Writs (1991).BALLET & DANCE: Basic Black (1984); A Broken Set of Rules (1984); Portraits in Reflection (1985); And Do They Do (1986); Touch the Earth (1987); Miniatures (Str. Qt. No.2) (1988); Configurations (Str. Qt. No.2) (1989); The Fall of Icarus (1989); Garden Party (1990); La Princesse de Milan (1991).FILM SCORES: A Walk Through H (1977); Tom Philips (1977); 1–100 (1977); Vertical Features Remake (1978); The Falls (1980); Brimstone and Treacle (1982); The Draughtsman's Contract (1982); Frozen Music (1983); Nelly's Version (1983); The Cold Room (1984); A Zed and Two Noughts (1985); L'ange frénetique (1985); The Disputation (1986); Ballet Méchanique (1986); Photographic Exhibits (1987); Drowning by Numbers (1988); La traversée de Paris (1989); The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989); Prospero's Books (1990); Les enfants volants (1991); The Piano (1992).ORCH.: A Handsom, Smooth, Sweet Smart Clever Stroke: Or Else Play Not At All (1983); Taking a Line for a Second Walk (1986); Where the Bee Dances (1991); The Upsidedown Violin (1992); MGV (1993); pf. conc. (1993).CHAMBER & ENS. (for Nyman band unless otherwise indicated): str. qts. No.1 (1985), No.2 (1988), No.3 (1990); Bell Set No.1, multiple perc. (1974); In Re Don Giovanni (1977); Waltz in F (1978); M Work (1981); Think Slow, Act Fast (1981); Five Orchestral Pieces Opus Tree (1981); The Disposition of the Linen (1982); Four Saxes, 3 sop. sax., 1 tenor sax. (1982); Queen of the Night (1982); Time's Up, gamelan (1983); I'll Stake My Cremona to a Jew's Trump, elec. modified vn. and va, and vv. (1984); Bird Work (1984); Swan Rot; Angelfish Decay, 2 vn., hpd. or pf.; Bisocosis Populi; Car Crash; Zoo Caprices, vn.; Child's Play, 2 vn., hpd. or pf.; Delft Waltz; Venus de Milo; Vermeer's Wife; Lady in the Red Hat (all 1985); Taking a Line for a Second Walk, 2 pf. (1986); Dead Man's Catch; Drowning by Number 2; Drowning by Number 3; Endgame; Knowing the Ropes; Bees in Trees; Sheep and Tides; Wedding Tango (all 1988); Book Depository (1989); Miserere Paraphrase, vn., pf. (1989), also for str. qt. and pf. (1991), 5 pf. (1991), sop. and band (1991); Cornfield; History of Sycorax, Miranda, Prospero's Curse, Prospero's Magic, Shaping the Curve, sop., sax., pf. (all 1990); Masque Arias, brass quintet (1991); Goodbye Frankie, Goodbye Benny, vn., vc., pf. (1992); The Convertibility of Lute Strings, hpd. (1992); For John Cage, 10-piece brass ens. (1991); Suite: The Draughtsman's Contract (1993); Songs for Tony, sax. qt. (1993).CHORAL & VOCAL: Bird List Song, sop., band (1979); A Neat Slice of Time, ch., amp. pf. (1980); The Abbess of Andouillets, solo SATB (1984); Memorial, sop., band; Miserere, sop., ch., band; L'Orgie Parisienne, sop. or mez., band; Out of the Ruins, ch., opt. org.; Ah!, ça ira, sop., ch., band (all 1989); 6 Celan Songs, mez., band; The Masque, 3 sop., band; 5 Ariel Songs, sop. or mez., band (all 1990); Letters, Riddles and Writs, mez. or counterten., bass, and band; Miranda, 5 sop., band; Miraculous Possession, 3 sop., band; Polish Love Song, sop. and 6 instr. (all 1991); Anne de Lucy Songs, sop., pf.; Miserere Paraphrase, sop., band; Mozart on Mortality, sop., 6 instr.; Self-Laudatory Hymn of Inanna and her Omnipotence, counterten. and viols (all 1992).