Nicholson, Sir Sydney (Hugo)
Nicholson, Sir Sydney (Hugo)
Nicholson, Sir Sydney (Hugo), English organist, music educator, and composer; b. London, Feb. 9, 1875; d. Ashford, Kent, May 30, 1947. He was educated at Oxford, the Royal Coll. of Music in London, and in Frankfurt am Main. He served as organist of the Lower Chapel, Eton (1900–04), acting organist of Carlisle Cathedral (1904–08), and organist of Manchester Cathedral (1908–19) and of Westminster Abbey, London (1919–28). Nicholson then founded the School of English Church Music, which became the Royal School of Church Music in 1945. In 1938 he was knighted. He composed a comic opera, The Mermaid (1928), an opera for boy’s voices, The Children of the Chapel (1934), church music, and organ pieces. He publ. Church Music: A Practical Handbook (London, 1920), A Manual of English Church Music (with G. Gardner; London, 1923; 2nd ed., 1936), and Quires and Places where they sing (London, 1932; 2nd ed., 1942).
—Nicolas Slomnisky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire