Nicholas Maw

Nicholas Maw (born 1935 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England) is a British composer.

Maw is best known for the orchestral pieces Odyssey (1987), The World in the Evening (1988) (suititled 'lullaby for large orchestra'), the guitar work Music of Memory (1989) and a violin concerto (1993) written for Joshua Bell. His music has been described as neo-romantic but also as modernist and non-tonal (for instance Personæ, his ongoing cycle of piano pieces). He is currently a member of the composition faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at The Johns Hopkins University.

In 2002 an opera, Sophie's Choice, (based on the novel of the same name), was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was premièred at the Royal Opera House under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, and received its North American premiere by the Washington National Opera in October of 2006. Mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, who sang Sophie in London, reprised the title role at the National Opera, joined by American baritone Rod Gilfry as Nathan Landau, the schizophrenic man who initially rescues Sophie and then persuades her to join him in a suicide pact.

A performance of Sophie's Choice took place in BBC's Maida Vale studios on 9 December 2005, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 two days later. Maw has also prepared a concert suite for orchestra based on the music.

Simon Rattle has also conducted a recording of Odyssey with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.