Michael Nyman：现代作曲家，1944年生于英国伦敦。1961-1963年师从英国皇家音乐学院的Alan Bush学习作曲，几十年中创作过弦乐四重奏、清唱剧、歌剧（两部）、交响乐，应该说他是以古典音乐起家，乐曲创作充满了实验性与思考性，但真正让他大红大紫的却是在电影配乐的表现。

迈克尔尼曼是一位英国作曲家，同时也是一位作家。曾前往罗马尼亚搜集民歌。1964年至1976年为《听众》、《新政治家报》和《观察家报》等报刊撰写音乐文章。他认为是他自己首次使用简约主义一词来界定当代音乐创作中的一种风格。迄今他已作有歌剧、舞剧音乐、管弦乐、室内乐、合唱曲、独唱曲等数量极为客观的各类作品，而最使他知名的是电影音乐创作，他被认为是当代一流电影音乐作曲家。尼曼的创作目录中还没有大提琴协奏曲，但是他的音乐风格中有着动人的旋律和为英国电影音乐创作所特有的温暖氛围

很多人都是从那部《The Piano》的配乐开始了解即而喜爱上了Michael Nyman。
Michael Nyman在乐曲创作上的实验与思考性格让他在将传统乐风予以现代化之际，也架构出缜密的思维，鲜活了古典音乐与现代音乐的刻板听觉，创造了一种依存於视觉与听觉之间的新感觉。Michael Nyman的音乐，被称做“微妙音乐”，因为，音乐都在一点一滴的改变
76-91年间与导演彼得格林纳威合作的11部电影音乐创作，让更多的人经由影像传动领略到尼曼的惊人音乐才气，99年还将音乐与伦敦摄影历史学家David King的书面影像作品融合，2000年5月6-7日曾访华作现场演奏，同年秋季更推出首出音乐剧创作《Facing Goya》。
很多人都是从那部《The Piano》的配乐开始了解即而喜爱上了Michael Nyman。有人认为《The Piano》并不是他创作的电影原声中最好的一张，或者说，不能代表他的音乐创作理念， 巧的是，虽然这张OST在当年卖出了几百万张的天文数字，但却在争夺奥斯卡最佳配乐奖时输给了John Wiliams的《辛德勒的名单》



在Michael Nyman的电影配乐：《The Piano》中虽然也有弦乐，主角是钢琴，毕竟故事是以钢琴及其女主人公展开，弦乐方面相对弱了许多，但这也不是最主要的。因为以音乐的形态而言，《The End of The Affair》、《Gattaca》、《The Cook，the Thief，His Wife and Her Lover》更接近于Michael Nyman的极微主义（又称极简主义）理念。极微主义本来并不为一般的乐迷所熟悉，古典乐迷知道的更多些。简单说来，就是将简短的主题乐句以特定的节律，一再的进行反复，衍生，变化，轮回的效果，让情感的变化点点滴滴的浮现，拓展，渗透。用最简约的主题繁复的变动，当音乐以这种简约的观点做为强调与诉求时，能反应出不同于一般交响乐的格调与感受，最大的特色在于这种音乐的单纯与绵延，而且能以十分细腻的音乐语言带动情绪的转变与表达。当然，这并不是不是Michael Nyman的首创。印象派中拉威尔的《Bolero》中的乐曲不也是在反复素材，微小变化中推进的吗？
99年，Michael Nyman与Blur的主音歌手Damon Albarn联手打造了一张电影原声专辑《Ravenous》（贪婪）。电影本身好看与否暂且不论，但专辑确实是红了一把，而在配乐当中使用Banjo（一种非洲的乐器）或许就是Michael Nyman的主意，毕竟他在早年曾去罗马尼亚采过风，极擅长汲取各民族的民间音乐。专辑中有许多八十年代早期的老歌，经Michael Nyman重新编排后，一首首平淡无奇的乐曲再次听来会觉得有趣味许多。（综合网上资料）

我本人确实除了对Michael Nyman在电影在钢琴课里的配乐听得多以外，对他的其他电影配乐和音乐是不太了解，也很想知道， 让我们来看看大师亲自弹奏他自己的杰作的风采 - 电影《钢琴课》的主题曲“心灵渴望欢乐”(The Heart Asks Pleasure First)，和他与乐队一起演奏其他配乐的实况

演奏曲目：

"The Heart Asks Pleasure First" from "The Piano". 1‘32

"Dreams of a Journey" from "The Piano". 3‘31

"Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds" from "The Draughtsman's Contract". 5’07

"Trysting Fields" from "Drowning By Numbers". 3’30

"Sheep 'n' Tides" from "Drowning By Numbers". 1’44

"Why" from "The Diary of Anne Frank".

"If" from "The Diary of Anne Frank". 4’12

"Wedding Tango" from "Drowning By Numbers".

Stroking" movement of "Water Dances" from "Making a Splash". 6’.09

"AET (After Extra Time)". 4’38

"Time Lapse" from "A Zed and Two Noughts".

主要音乐作品：

• 1963 - Introduction and Allegro Concertato for Wind Quartet (lost)

• 1963 - Divertimento for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet

• 1965 - Canzona for Flute

• 1974 - Bell Set No. 1 (multiple metal percussion)

• 1976 - 1-100 (4-6 pianos)

• 1976 - (First) Waltz in D (variable)

• 1976 - (Second) Waltz in F (variable)

• 1977 - In Re Don Giovanni (ensemble)

·  1978 - The Otherwise Very Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz (multiple pianos)

·  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 for Opus Tree (band*) (based on Anton Webern's Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 10)

·  1981 - M-Work (band)

·  1981 - 2 Violins

·  1982 - Four Saxes (Real Slow Drag) (saxophone quartet)

·  1983 - A Handsome, 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 Trump (electric violin and viola, both players also simultaneously singing)

·  1983 - Love is Certainly, at Least Alphabetically Speaking (soprano and band)

·  1984 - The Abbess of Andouillets (choir)

·  1985 - Nose-List Song (soprano and orchestra) [this and the above three 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 - Childs Play (2 violins; harpsichord)

·  1985 - String Quartet No. 1

·  1986 - Taking a Line for a Second Walk (for orchestra (Basic Black) or piano duet)

·  1986 - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (opera; libretto by Christopher Rawlence; 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 - The Michael Nyman Songbook A collection of songs based on texts by Paul Celan, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William Shakespeare, and Arthur Rimbaud and recorded with vocalist Ute Lemper.

·  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 & Sweet Airs (1993; 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 - 3 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)

·  1997 - The Promise (piano)

·  1998 - Cycle of Disquietude (Coisas, Vozes, Lettras) (soprano, mezzo-soprano, and band)

·  1998 - Orfeu (band)

·  1998 - De Granada A La Luna (band)

·  1999 - The Commissar 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; libretto by Michael Hastings)

·  2005 - Love Counts (opera; libretto by Michael Hastings)

·  2006 - gdm for Marimba and Orchestra (concerto)

·  2006 - Acts of Beauty' (song cycle)

·  2007 - A Handshake in the Dark (choral piece with orchestra; text by Jamal Jumá [world premiere 8 March 2007, Barbican, London, performed by the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, John Storgards conducting])

·  2007 - Interlude in C (expansion of a theme from The Libertine for Accent07 touring ensemble)

·  2007 - Eight Lust Songs song cycle

·  2008 - Yamamoto Perpetuo for Solo Flute (arranged by Andy Findon)

·  2009 - Sparkie: Cage and Beyond opera with Carsten Nicolai

·  2009 - The Musicologist Scores (band)