Peter Nickol - Impulse

My first professional performance came in 1995: Blue Romance for flute and piano, performed by Leslie Newman and Scott Mitchell. In 1997 Journey to a Birth for four solo voices was shortlisted by the SPNM (Society for the Promotion of New Music), and in the following year I embarked on composition studies with Phil Grange at the University of Exeter. These continued at the University of Manchester, leading to a PhD awarded in 2008.
Following Journey to a Birth four more pieces have subsequently been shortlisted by SPNM: Praeludium for solo cello, String Trio, Fantasy for oboe and harp, and String Quartet. In 2006 the EMFEB Orchestra chose me to be one of four associated composers, providing a chance to work with the orchestra and its component ensembles.
In 2004, through SPNM, I was one of several composers chosen to write a piece for viol consort as part of a 'Remembering Dowland' project. The result was Still Life, for three viols and lute, first performed at the Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham, as part of the 2004 Cheltenham Festival.
In 2007 came a commission from the Exeter Festival Chorus for a piece to be performed in Exeter Cathedral that autumn. The concert also included the Gloria by John Rutter, and the piece I composed, Living Tree, shares the same orchestration: brass ensemble, harp and percussion. Living Tree uses texts from a variety of sources, and concerns the life of trees and of the huge population of creatures and plants that inhabit them and depend on them. The third movement, using lines from Joan Poulson’s book of poems Onetree Singing, focuses on an oak tree which she watched before, during and after its felling.
In 2008, Exeter Cathedral commissioned a new piece for the cathedral choir and organ. The result was 'Eddystone Song' inspired by the famous lighthouse, and this was first performed in a candlelight concert at the cathedral in January 2009.

List of Works
Title	Date	Duration	Forces
Orchestral			Audio credits
Tears and Dancing	2003	13	large orchestra: details on application

Chamber
Blue Romance	1995	3	fl & pf; also fl & hp; also fl & gtr
Serensina	1997	5	wind quintet
References to Air	1999	5	cl, tpt, pf
L30	2000	4	bass cl, hp, perc
Aspects of Dawn	2000	10	fl, ob, cl, hn, vla, vc, db
String Trio	2000	13
Piano Trio	2001	13
Views were expressed on both sides	2001	5	2 pianos
Fantasy	2002	6	ob & hp
Still Life	2004	5	viol consort & lute
String Quartet	2005	22
Incline (1 in 9)	2006	5	bsn & pf
Ultramarine	2007	5	fl, cor, bass cl, hn, bsn
Nocturne: the Blackbird	2008	3	fl & gtr
Life Begins	2009	3	alto sax & pf

Instrumental solo
Praeludium	1999	7	cello
Just Time	2000	3	harp
Icactus	2002	5	cello
Blue Mix	2002	5	piano
Night Thoughts	2004	8	clavichord; also piano
Song for H	2006	1	double bass
Blue Note	2008	1	piano

Vocal and choral
Journey to a Birth	1997	10	solo male ATTB + optional db
Three Songs of Observation	1997	8	mezzo sop & pf
Lute Songs	2003	10	voice & lute; also voice & gtr
The Thought	2004	4	chamber choir (SSAATTBB)
Living Tree	2007	13	choir, brass ensemble, harp, perc, timps
New Year	2008	4	choir (SATTBB) & organ
Eddystone Song	2008	5	choir (SSAATB) & organ
Thou, my love	2009	2	choir (SATB)
During the Night	2009	3	mezzo soprano & pf
If I could shut the gate	2009	2	choir (SATB)
Offer me Coffee	2010	8	voice & gtr

Christmas carols
Joy in the Morning	1997	2	choir SATB
Dubai Sky	2006	2	choir SSATBB + solo soprano from choir
Day to Dance	2006	2	unison voices & pf

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Music Engraving

Professional computerised music engraving using Sibelius or Finale
Page design and fitting
Integration with text
High-quality print-ready or web-ready PDFs supplied
Clients include: Peters Edition, Schott & Co, Youth Music

Peter Nickol is the designer and lead tutor of the 'Editing and Proofreading Music' course run by the SfEP (Society for Editors and Proofreaders).

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Editing and Design
I offer a full service through editing, design, typography and page-fitting to delivery of PDF files. My specialism is music education of all sorts and at all levels - editing and coordinating book-CD packages (classical, popular, jazz, world, etc.) - but I also handle a range of other subjects, particularly educational (e.g. literacy, humanities, art history).	Memberships Society for Editors and Proofreaders - Advanced member NUJ National Union of Journalists ISM Incorporated Spciety of Musicians - South West Regional Councillor 2006 onwards
Another specialism is unsticking stuck books or projects: sometimes publishers face intractable problems, and simply don't know (or haven't the time to find out) how to unravel them. Troublesome cases may stem, for instance, from deteriorated author-publisher relations, or permissions issues, or the need for an audio CD. In such cases, through experience, good contacts and lateral thinking, I can work out a solution and make things happen.
Recent clients Peters Edition Grassroots Publishing Hodder Gibson University of Liverpool Press	Summary of Services offered: Project management Trouble-shooting Integration of text and pictorial matter Preparation of print-ready or web-ready files Design from scratch or to match existing publications Page fitting for optimum efficient page-extent (number of pages)
What does 'Editing and Design' mean? In brief, everything between the initial idea and the finished article, whether this is an educational package, or website.It starts with making sure the project is coherent and it includes the nuts and bolts of editing the text so that it reads easily and correctly, with making sure all the visual elements work properly together.
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Writing

Learning to Read Music
by Peter Nickol

How to make sense of those mysterious symbols and bring music alive.

Whether you want to learn how to play an instrument, or just refresh your existing capability, whether you sing in a choir, or would simply like to follow scores while listening, this book will help you achieve your aim. It leads you carefully through the basics of pitch, rhythm, keys, scales, chords, and much more, building your knowledge chapter by chapter until you are able to read music with ease. The visual index of musical symbols laid out at the start will make clear the task at hand. Reference to common instruments and familiar tunes will help bring your learning to life, while self-testing and chapter summaries ensure that you develop and retain this new skill. By the end of the book, you will have come a long way. Your knowledge of music notation will be a pleasure to you, and a useful tool. As well as its practical applications for any performer, this book will give you insights into how music is put together. You will have the feeling of knowing the music from the inside.

3rd edition 2008

ISBN 978-1-84528-278-3

£9-99

Pop Music: the Text Book
by Tony Bricheno, Peter Nickol and Julia Winterson

Pop Music is now a component of many courses in schools, colleges and universities; Pop Music: the Text Book has been written with the needs of these courses in mind. It traces the development of pop music through the twentieth century, investigating the influence of each generation upon the next. The forms and musical characteristics of different styles are identified, with profiles of some of the most influential musicians of each decade and a glossary of relevant musical terms. The book also includes extensive chapters on the development of music technology and examines the different roles of people working in the music industry, explaining the processes involved in making and selling a CD. Unlike many books on pop music, this one makes direct reference to the music throughout.

2003

ISBN 1-84367-007-0

£13-95

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Training

Editing and Proofreading Music

Peter Nickol teaches this course for the SfEP (Society for Editors and Proofreaders).

Using a wide variety of examples, this course introduces the principles and techniques of editing and proofreading music: checking for its visual and musical sense; marking up a music manuscript; understanding the needs of the music setter; considering the differences between book publishing and music publishing, and between different styles of notation as they are used for different types of music. The interaction of music notation with surrounding text is examined, whether in an academic or educational context. Participants must be able to read music.

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