Paul Nelson was an American musician and composer. His compositions—in all genres except opera—have been performed on four continents.

Life

Paul Nelson was born in Phoenix, Arizona on January 26, 1929. He attended public elementary school there, and graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1947. Preserved portions of the PUHS campus were named Phoenix's first official historic landmark in 2002, as noted in an article in a local newspaper serving the city's historic residential districts, The Midtown Messenger. The campus is now the site of a University of Arizona medical school.

He held a B.S. from Teachers College, Columbia University

Teachers College, Columbia University

Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...

 and an M.A. from Harvard

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, having studied at the latter with composers Walter Piston

Walter Piston

Walter Hamor Piston Jr., , was an American composer of classical music, music theorist and professor of music at Harvard University whose students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter....

 and Randall Thompson

Randall Thompson

Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...

. He was awarded the coveted Rome Prize

Rome Prize

The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...

 at the American Academy in Rome

American Academy in Rome

The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...

 from 1960-63.

A professional trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 player, he also had sung in well over 20 choruses from Los Angeles to New York and Boston, as well as in Vienna and Paris, where he was a professional chorister in 1959-60.

He went to Providence, Rhode Island in 1964 upon invitation to teach at Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, where he was associate professor of music theory and composition until 1983. He remained in Providence until his death, collaborating with various people and groups including singing as a bass in the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra (who have performed several of his works). He also taught privately in the area.

Nelson died from congestive heart failure

Congestive heart failure

Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...

on April 11, 2008 at Rhode Island Hospital. He was survived by his wife of many years, Else.

Works

His half-hour-long "Vox Aeterna Amoris" for mezzo-soprano solo and orchestra was given its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1991 by the National Orchestral Association and was praised by the Daily News music critic as "easily the best work" on the program, while music critic Channing Gray described his 1990 "Cantata Psalmorum" in the Providence Journal-Bulletin the previous year as a "moving, eloquent score."

The Midtown Messenger in May 2004 again noted Nelson's life and work and his connection to his hometown, following his visit there to attend a performance of his composition "An Arizona Overture" in April 2004. The composition is a retitled movement from Nelson's "Two Contrasts for Orchestra," which was written as the 50th anniversary of Arizona's statehood approached, and was played, at PUHS, by the Phoenix Symphony, in a 1962 program also featuring violinist Zino Francescatti as soloist for the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. The initial article may be found at midtownmessenger.com, Past Issues, and both are also archived at the Arizona State Capitol Library.