Peter Nelson is Emeritus Professor of Music and Technology and is a composer and theorist. His compositional output includes chamber, choral, orchestral, and electronic music, with commissions from many leading performers and ensembles including the BBC, Radio France, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Edinburgh Quartet, and the Dunedin Consort. He was editor of the journal Contemporary Music Review from 1994-2022.

Research interests

• the social aspects of rhythm

• the work of the composer Iannis Xenakis

Recent publications

Nelson, Peter. 2024. ‘The UPIC System of Iannis Xenakis: autoethnography as rapprochement.’ In Sharon Kanach and Peter Nelson (eds) Meta-Xenakis: New Perspectives on Iannis Xenakis’s Life, Work, and Legacies. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers. Forthcoming.

Nelson, Peter. 2024. ‘Introduction.’ In Sharon Kanach and Peter Nelson (eds) Meta-Xenakis: New Perspectives on Iannis Xenakis’s Life, Work, and Legacies. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers. Forthcoming.

Nelson, Peter. 2024. ‘The voice of the UPIC: technology and virtual agency.’ Studia Musica. Forthcoming.

Nelson, Peter. 2024. ‘György Ligeti, Friction, and the Uncertain Image.’ Studia Musica. Forthcoming.

Nelson, Peter. 2024. ‘The Voice of the UPIC: technology as utterance.’ In Reinhold Friedl, Thomas Grill, Nikolaus Urbanek, Michelle Ziegler (eds), Xenakis2022: Back to the Roots. Wien/Bielefeld: mdw press. Forthcoming.

Nelson, Peter 2024. ‘The Technological Dimension: From the Études to IRCAM.’ In Edward Campbell (ed.) Boulez in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Forthcoming.

Nelson, Peter. 2023. ‘Celestial and Terrestrial Music: the spectacular art of Iannis Xenakis and the formation of the UPIC.’ In Marco Giommoni and Renzo Cresti (eds), Xenakis Rimane. Treviso: Diastema Editrice, 186-205. (in Italian)

*Nelson, Peter 2023. ‘What is Music?’ In Anastasia Georgaki, George Kosteletos (eds), From Digital Echos to Virtual Ethos: Critical Issues on Music Technology in Contemporary Music. Athens: Nkua Press.

Nelson, Peter. 2022. ‘Music and the Illusions of Form.’ In Rachael Durkin, Peter Dayan, Axel Englund, and Katharina Clausius (eds), The Routledge Companion to Music and Modern Literature, London: Routledge, 220-232.

Campbell, Iain and Peter Nelson. 2022. ‘Rhythm And Signification: Temporalities Of Musical And Social Meaning.’ Angelaki 27(5), 56-78.

Nelson, Peter. 2022. ‘What’s the Use of Music?’ Proceedings of the Xenakis 22: Centenary International Symposium, Athens & Nafplio (Greece), 24-29 May 2022, 33-42.

Nelson, Peter. 2020. ‘Speech Acts and Music Acts: intentionality in language and music.’ Italian Journal of Philosophy of Language (RIFL – Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del linguaggio) 14 (1): 130-142. DOI: 10.4396/2020112