Richard Nicholson (baptised 26 September 1563 – 1638 or 1639) was an English composer and organist and the first

Heather Professor of Music The Heather Professor of Music is the title of an endowed chair at the University of Oxford. The post and the funding for it come from a bequest by William Heather (c. 1563 – 1627). Following the example of his friend William Camden who had left ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Life

Richard Nicholson was baptised in Durham and sang in

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

choir from 1576 to 1580. He became organist of

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, in January 1596 and obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from the

in the following month. In 1626, William Heather appointed him as the first "Master of the Musicke" for the university, following a donation by Heather of music books, instruments and money for the purpose of theoretical and practical instruction in music. He was succeeded in the professorship by

Arthur Phillips Arthur Phillips (born April 23, 1969) is an American novelist. His books include ''Prague'' (2002), ''The Egyptologist'' (2004), ''Angelica'' (2007), ''The Song Is You'' (2009), '' The Tragedy of Arthur'' (2011), and ''The King at the Edge of the ...

in November 1639, but he may have died in the previous year as the Magdalen College account books do not mention Nicholson after 1638. Music known to be by Nicholson is mostly choral, although a few pieces for groups of instruments have been attributed to him. "O pray for the peace of Jerusalem" shows the influence of

Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mu ...

. "When Jesus sat at meat" is for singers, including boy soloists, and instruments (

viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

s), suggesting that it was composed for the classes that Nicholson was required to teach at Oxford. The Jews Dance for instrumental ensemble was recorded by the Julian Bream Ensemble in 1988. He also composed a five-part Latin motet, "''Cantate Domino''", which may have been for the purposes of his Oxford degree. He also contributed to ''

The Triumphs of Oriana ''The Triumphs of Oriana'' is a book of English madrigals, compiled and published in 1601 by Thomas Morley, which first edition has 25 pieces by 23 composers (Thomas Morley and Ellis Gibbons have two madrigals) for 5 and 6 voices. The first 14 m ...

'' in 1601.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Richard 1563 births 1630s deaths English classical organists 16th-century English composers English male composers 17th-century English composers Heather Professors of Music 17th-century English male musicians English male classical organists