Biography.guide
Home › People › Actor › José Nieto
Portrait of José Nieto

José Nieto

b. 1942

Spanish composer

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About José Nieto

Born 1942. José Nieto is a Spanish actor, composer, film score composer and musician.

José Nieto (born March 1, 1942) is a Spanish composer, orchestrator, songwriter, conductor and drum player. He is best known for writing films scores, such as Mad Love, El bosque animado (1987), The Fencing Master (1992), Carmen (2003), The Turkish Passion (1994) or I Know Who You Are (2000). For television he has composed music for the BBC in series like Crusades(1995) or From the Heart of the World (1990), and other international and Spanish series such as Captain James Cook (1988), Armada (1988), Teresa de Jesús (1984) or Los jinetes del alba.

He has collaborated in theater with Miguel Narros in "El burlador de Sevilla" and "Salomé", with María Ruiz in the "Serrana de la Vera" and "The portrait of Dorian Gray", with José Luis Gómez in "Bodas que fueron famosas del Pingajo y la Fandanga" and in "Life is a Dream", with Adolfo Marsillach in "Los locos de Valencia" and with Josefina Molina in "No se ser ...", among others.

He also has worked in the field of ballet. Her works in this field include "Tres Danzas Españolas", "Ritmos", "Romance de Luna", "Don Juan Tenorio", "Dualia" and "El Corazón de Piedra Verde", all composed for the National Ballet of Spain. For the Andalusian Dance Company he has composed "Picasso: Landscapes" and, on behalf of the Seville Flamenco Biennial of 2012, "Blood Spell", based on Macbeth by Shakespeare.

Nieto has won 3 times the Film Writers Circle Awards, 6 times the Goya Awards for the best music from the Academia of Sciences and Cinematographic Arts, and the Golden Spike at the 41st Valladolid International Film Week. He is the first composer to obtain the National Prize for Cinematography in Spain (2000). In 2001 he received the award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Music for the best soundtrack album of the movie Mad Love (Original Title: Juana La Loca) and for Carmen in 2003. That same year he also received the Max Theater Award for the music of "El burlador de Sevilla".

Life Born in Madrid, Spain, in 1958 he joined the band "Los Pekenikes", playing the drums. He began his career as a professional musician in 1962 in orchestras and jazz dance groups. He made musical arrangements for singers like Massiel, Julio Iglesias or Los Bravos while simultaneously making his own compositions. In 1969 he started to compose film scores with his work in La Lola, dicen que no duerme sola directed by Jaime de Armiñán. He worked for film directors: Jaime de Armiñan, José Luis Borau, Juan Antonio Bardem, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón and Fernando Colomo. Since the late eighties, Nieto's work has taken greater relevance, especially since he began working with Vicente Aranda in El Lute (1987), a film that would begin a long relationship with the director. José Nieto has also worked for Pilar Miró and Imanol Uribe, among others.

He has been honored with numerous Goya Awards. Since the first edition of the Goya Awards, there has been much rivalry with Alberto Iglesias in the best score category. Until the twentieth edition (2005) they were matched with six awards each, but in the 2006 edition, Iglesias leads when he achieved its seventh award.

Awards Goya Awards:

1987: El Bosque Animado (won) 1989: Esquilache (nominated) 1990: Lo más natural (won) 1991: El rey pasmado (won) 1992: El maestro de esgrima (won) 1993: Intruso (nominated) 1994: The Turkish passion (won) 1996: El perro del hortelano (nominated) 2000: Sé quién eres (won) 2001: Mad Love (nominated) 2003: Carmen (nominated)

Film Writers Circle Awards:

1974: El amor del capitán Brando (won) 1990: El rey pasmado (won) 1991: La Luna negra (won) 1992: El maestro de esgrima (won) 1994: The Turkish passion (won)

National Film Award (2000)

2 Awards MundoBSO

Filmography (selection)

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Also known as
Jose Nieto

People in José Nieto's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped José Nieto's

Frequently asked questions

Who is José Nieto?

Spanish composer

When was José Nieto born?

José Nieto was born on 1 March 1942 in Madrid.

What is José Nieto's occupation?

José Nieto is an actor, composer, film score composer and musician.

What nationality is José Nieto?

José Nieto is Spanish.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: José Nieto

· Wikidata: Q1709539

· DBpedia: José Nieto (composer)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). José Nieto. https://biography.guide/jose-nieto-actor/

MLA: "José Nieto." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jose-nieto-actor/.

Chicago: "José Nieto." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jose-nieto-actor/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

Page generated 2026-09-27 04:57 UTC