(b. 1949, County Durham).
British composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and vocal works that have been performed throughout Europe and elsewhere.
Prof. Nicholson studied composition with David Blake and Bernard Rands at the University of York, where he earned his DMus in 1979.
He is also active in other positions. He has performed as a pianist in the ensembles Nomos and Triple Echo and has given recitals with his wife, the soprano Jane Ginsborg. As a conductor, he has led numerous ensembles for contemporary music in the UK. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee for Concert Music of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors since 2006.
He taught as a lecturer in music and served as director of the department of composition at Keele University in Staffordshire from 1988–95. He has taught at the University of Sheffield since 1996, where he was Senior Lecturer in Composition from 1996–2008, served as chair of the department of music from 2003–05, was Reader in Composition from 2008–17, and has been Professor in Composition since 2017.
His publisher is the University of York Music Press.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
The Arrival of the Poet in the City (melodrama, text by Christopher Logue), male speaker, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon, cornet, trombone, violin, double bass, vibraphone (+ percussion), fixed media, 1982–83
ORCHESTRAL:
1132, 1976
The Convergence of the Twain, 1978
Chamber Concerto, small orchestra (13 players), 1979–80
Sea-Change, 14 strings, 1988
Concerto, cello, orchestra, 1990
Concerto, flute, orchestra, 1993
Fenestræ, small orchestra (15 players), 1998
Concerto for Orchestra, large orchestra, 2004–05
Short Stories, symphonic band (piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 B-flat trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, timpani, 3 percussion), 2008
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Recycle, 2 flutes (1st + alto flute, 2nd + piccolo), 2 clarinets (1st + E-flat clarinet, 2nd + bass clarinet), 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, harp, 1975–76
Overtune, 3 flutes (2nd + piccolo, 3rd + alto flute), English horn, 3 clarinets (2nd + E-flat clarinet, 3rd + bass clarinet), 1976
String Quartet No. 1, 1976–77
Brass Quintet, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1977
The Seventh Seal, viola, 1977
Winter Music, clarinet, harp, percussion, 1978
Nodus, clarinet, piano, 1978
N'est-ce pas... ?, violin, 1979
So Low, double bass, 1981
Slide Show, trombone, 1981
Ancient Lights, flute (+ piccolo), 2 clarinets (both + bass clarinet), violin, viola, cello, piano, 1982
Movements, clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet), bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, 1982–83
Sound Progressions Newly Minted, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1983
String Quartet No. 2, 1984–85
Stilleven, flute, bass clarinet, flügelhorn, violin, double bass, 1985
Three Nocturnes, A-clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet), violin, cello, piano, 1986
Romanza, violin, piano, 1987
Spring Songs, recorder, 1991
Muybridge Frames, trombone, piano, 1992
Ave atque vale, flute, piano, 1994
(termi)né, 2 bass clarinets, 1995
String Quartet No. 3, 1995
Fills, clarinet, 2000
Catch, flute, clarinet, vibraphone, 2001 (section of Wessex Heights; may be performed separately)
Shailing and wambling, viola, cello, 2001 (section of Wessex Heights; may be performed separately)
Umbra/penumbra, trombone, piano, 2002
Mister Biberian His Dompe, guitar, 2002
Autumn Journey, French horn, harp, 2005
Sonant formant morph, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, 2006
Tableaux vivants, soprano saxophone, French horn, trumpet, harp, guitar, 2 violins, viola, cello, percussion, 2004–07
Bagatelles, oboe, percussion, 2006–07
Cæsura, French horn, violin, piano, 2007
Recueillement, flute, French horn, harp, viola, 2007
Salve regina, alto flute, oboe d'amore, E-flat clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, vibraphone, 2008
The darkening green (in memory of Wilfrid Mellers), oboe, piano, 2008
Groundswell, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, 3 percussion, 2009 (section of Wessex Heights; may be performed separately)
Dedans, trombone, live electronics, 2010
Harmonica, E-flat clarinet, 7 clarinets, alto clarinet/basset horn, 2 bass clarinets, contra-alto clarinet/contrabass clarinet, 2011
Moonlight over Albion (in memory of David Bedford), clarinet, viola, piano, 2011
Darkness Visible (in memory of Alan Hacker), bass clarinet, piano, 2012
Soundings, bass clarinet, 2012
String Quartet No. 4, 2012–13
Far cry, alto saxophone, piano, 2014–15
Shadow Play, flute, clarinet, 2015
Madrigals in memoriam Henri Pousseur, trumpet (+ flügelhorn), trombone, piano, 2015–16
Salut, string quartet, 2016
String Quartet No. 5, 2017
Launch, bass clarinet, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, 2018
CHORAL:
A World of Imagination (text by William Blake), mixed chorus, 1984
Dormi, Jesu! (text from a traditional prayer [also translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge]), mixed chorus, piano, 2006
(Fifty-second) Streets (text from the names of streets in York), 4 mixed voices, 2015
VOCAL:
Colloque sentimental (texts by Stéphane Mallarmé, Heinrich Heine), soprano, harp, 1976
Rondeau (text from an anonymous source), soprano, 1977
Settings (text by Georg Trakl), soprano, piano, 1977
Hallel (texts from Psalm 117, Psalm 144, Psalm 133), soprano, organ, 1979
Alla Luna (text by Giacomo Leopardi), soprano, clarinet, piano, 1981
Aubade (text from an anonymous source), soprano, 5 players, 1981
Vignette (text by William Morris), soprano, piano, 1983–84
Peripheral Visions (texts by Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, Wyndham Lewis, an anonymous source), soprano, piano, 1983–84
Blisworth Tunnel Blues (texts by William Blake, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy, Henry David Thoreau, Mary Shelley), soprano, small orchestra (20 players), 1986–87
Letters to the World (text by Emily Dickinson), soprano, recorder, cello, harpsichord, 1997–99
Wessex Heights, 2001–09 (its eight sections may be performed separately: [1] Embers [text by Thomas Hardy], soprano, oboe, clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, vibraphone, 2004; [2] Shailing and wambling, viola, cello; [3] Volte-face [text by Thomas Hardy], soprano, flute, oboe, violin, 2009; [4] Groundswell, clarinet [+ bass clarinet], French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, 3 percussion; [5] Catch, flute, clarinet, vibraphone; [6] Idyll [text by Thomas Hardy], soprano, flute, bass clarinet, viola, cello, piano, 2003; [7] For Tess [vocalise], soprano, flute, oboe, bass clarinet [+ clarinet], French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, 2009; [8] Along upon [text by Thomas Hardy], soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, 2009)
Further than guess (text by Emily Dickinson), tenor, cello, 2010
To the Rainbow (text by D. H. Lawrence), soprano, alto recorder (+ tenor recorder, bass recorder), 2013–14
PIANO:
Sonata, 1983
Cascate, 1985
Mots justes, 1988–97 (its five sections may be performed separately: Impromptu, 1988; All Systems Go, 1989; For Miles, 1991–92; Sung without words, 1996; In Accord, 1997)
Pas Seul, 2011
Chiaroscuro, 2012
Tronie, 2013
ARRANGEMENT:
Egdon Heath (Gustav Holst), flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano, 2009
DISCOGRAPHY
Muybridge Frames; Umbra/penumbra. John Kenny, trombone; George Nicholson, piano (British Music Label: BML 018)
Darkness Visible. Sarah Watts, bass clarinet; Antony Clare, piano (Cuillin Sound: CUILL1002)
String Quartet No. 3. Bochmann Quartet (Metier Records: MSV CD 92016)
Peripheral Visions. Alison Smart, soprano; Katharine Durran, piano (Metier Records: MSV CD 92025)
Spring Songs; For Miles; Sung without words; In Accord; Nodus; Letters to the World. Alison Wells, soprano; John Turner, recorder; Philip Edwards, clarinet; Jonathan Price, cello; Peter Lawson, George Nicholson, pianos; Keith Elcombe, harpsichord (Metier Records: MSV CD 92062)
Bagatelles. New Noise (Oboe Classics: CC2021)
The Arrival of the Poet in the City. Christopher Logue, speaker; Alan Fearon/Royal Northern Sinfonia Ensemble (Unknown Public: UPL 701)