著名英國作曲家Michael Nyman和樂隊的錄音現場演出

Michael Nyman：現代作曲家，1944年生於英國倫敦。1961-1963年師從英國皇家音樂學院的Alan Bush學習作曲，幾十年中創作過弦樂四重奏、清唱劇、歌劇（兩部）、交響樂，應該說他是以古典音樂起家，樂曲創作充滿了實驗性與思考性，但真正讓他大紅大紫的卻是在電影配樂的表現。

邁克爾尼曼是一位英國作曲家，同時也是一位作家。曾前往羅馬尼亞搜集民歌。1964年至1976年為《聽眾》、《新政治家報》和《觀察家報》等報刊撰寫音樂文章。他認為是他自己首次使用簡約主義一詞來界定當代音樂創作中的一種風格。迄今他已作有歌劇、舞劇音樂、管弦樂、室內樂、合唱曲、獨唱曲等數量極為客觀的各類作品，而最使他知名的是電影音樂創作，他被認為是當代一流電影音樂作曲家。尼曼的創作目錄中還沒有大提琴協奏曲，但是他的音樂風格中有著動人的旋律和為英國電影音樂創作所特有的溫暖氛圍

很多人都是從那部《The Piano》的配樂開始了解即而喜愛上了Michael Nyman。
Michael Nyman在樂曲創作上的實驗與思考性格讓他在將傳統樂風予以現代化之際，也架構出縝密的思維，鮮活了古典音樂與現代音樂的刻板聽覺，創造了一種依存於視覺與聽覺之間的新感覺。Michael Nyman的音樂，被稱做“微妙音樂”，因為，音樂都在一點一滴的改變
76-91年間與導演彼得格林納威合作的11部電影音樂創作，讓更多的人經由影像傳動領略到尼曼的驚人音樂才氣，99年還將音樂與倫敦攝影曆史學家David King的書麵影像作品融合，2000年5月6-7日曾訪華作現場演奏，同年秋季更推出首出音樂劇創作《Facing Goya》。
很多人都是從那部《The Piano》的配樂開始了解即而喜愛上了Michael Nyman。有人認為《The Piano》並不是他創作的電影原聲中最好的一張，或者說，不能代表他的音樂創作理念， 巧的是，雖然這張OST在當年賣出了幾百萬張的天文數字，但卻在爭奪奧斯卡最佳配樂獎時輸給了John Wiliams的《辛德勒的名單》



在Michael Nyman的電影配樂：《The Piano》中雖然也有弦樂，主角是鋼琴，畢竟故事是以鋼琴及其女主人公展開，弦樂方麵相對弱了許多，但這也不是最主要的。因為以音樂的形態而言，《The End of The Affair》、《Gattaca》、《The Cook，the Thief，His Wife and Her Lover》更接近於Michael Nyman的極微主義（又稱極簡主義）理念。極微主義本來並不為一般的樂迷所熟悉，古典樂迷知道的更多些。簡單說來，就是將簡短的主題樂句以特定的節律，一再的進行反複，衍生，變化，輪回的效果，讓情感的變化點點滴滴的浮現，拓展，滲透。用最簡約的主題繁複的變動，當音樂以這種簡約的觀點做為強調與訴求時，能反應出不同於一般交響樂的格調與感受，最大的特色在於這種音樂的單純與綿延，而且能以十分細膩的音樂語言帶動情緒的轉變與表達。當然，這並不是不是Michael Nyman的首創。印象派中拉威爾的《Bolero》中的樂曲不也是在反複素材，微小變化中推進的嗎？
99年，Michael Nyman與Blur的主音歌手Damon Albarn聯手打造了一張電影原聲專輯《Ravenous》（貪婪）。電影本身好看與否暫且不論，但專輯確實是紅了一把，而在配樂當中使用Banjo（一種非洲的樂器）或許就是Michael Nyman的主意，畢竟他在早年曾去羅馬尼亞采過風，極擅長汲取各民族的民間音樂。專輯中有許多八十年代早期的老歌，經Michael Nyman重新編排後，一首首平淡無奇的樂曲再次聽來會覺得有趣味許多。（綜合網上資料）

我本人確實除了對Michael Nyman在電影在鋼琴課裏的配樂聽得多以外，對他的其他電影配樂和音樂是不太了解，也很想知道， 讓我們來看看大師親自彈奏他自己的傑作的風采 - 電影《鋼琴課》的主題曲“心靈渴望歡樂”(The Heart Asks Pleasure First)，和他與樂隊一起演奏其他配樂的實況

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".

主要音樂作品：

• 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)