Editing Michael Nyman (section)

===Founding of Campiello Band and collaboration with Peter Greenaway, 1976–1990 ===
In the 1970s, Nyman was a member of the [[Portsmouth Sinfonia]] – the self-described World's Worst Orchestra. He was the featured pianist on the orchestra's recording of "[[Bridge over Troubled Water (song)|Bridge Over Troubled Water]]" on the 1979 [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]]-produced ''20 Classic Rock Classics'' album, on which the Sinfonia gave their unique interpretations of the pop and rock repertoire of the 1950s–1970s. 

In 1976, he formed the Campiello Band, which became the [[Michael Nyman Band]], for a production of [[Carlo Goldoni]]'s ''Il Campiello''. Originally made up of old instruments such as [[rebec]]s and [[shawm]]s alongside more modern instruments like the saxophone to produce as loud a sound as possible without amplification, the band later switched to a fully amplified line-up of string quartet, three saxophones, trumpet, [[French horn|horn]], [[bass trombone]], bass guitar and piano. Many of Nyman's works are written for his ensemble, with the lineup variously altered and augmented.

One of his earliest film scores was the 1976 British sex comedy ''[[Keep It Up Downstairs]]'', followed by numerous films, many of them European art films, including eleven directed by [[Peter Greenaway]]. Nyman drew frequently on [[early music]] sources in his scores for Greenaway's films: [[Henry Purcell]] in ''[[The Draughtsman's Contract]]'' (1982) and ''[[The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover]]'' (1989) (which included [[Memorial (composition)|Memorial]] and Miserere Paraphrase), [[Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber]] in ''[[A Zed & Two Noughts]]'' (1985), [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] in ''[[Drowning by Numbers]]'' (1988), and [[John Dowland]] in ''[[Prospero's Books]]'' (1991), largely at the request of the director.{{sfn|Siôn|2007|p={{page needed|date=August 2024}}}} He wrote settings to various texts by Mozart for ''[[Letters, Riddles and Writs]]'', part of ''Not Mozart''. 

In 1987 Nyman composed the opera ''[[Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs]]'', for [[soprano]], [[alto (voice)|alto]], [[tenor]] and instrumental ensemble (based on Nyman's score for the ballet ''La Princesse de Milan'');  the opera ''[[The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (opera)|The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat]]'' (1986), based on a case-study by [[Oliver Sacks]]; and five [[string quartet]]s. He also recorded pop music with the [[Flying Lizards]]; a version of his ''Bird List'' from the soundtrack to Peter Greenaway's ''[[The Falls (1980 film)|The Falls]]'' (1980) appears on their album ''Fourth Wall'' as "Hands 2 Take".