Peter Paul Nash was born in 1950, grew up in Suffolk and was educated at Cambridge University. As well as composing, he has worked as a writer and broadcaster on music, presenting and producing a wide range of programmes for BBC Radio 3 during the 1980s and 1990s.

His principal works include: Etudes for Symphony Orchestra (1983-84); Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (1989-91 and 1996); String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 (1986-88 and 1993); Rain (1970) for piano solo; the chamber-ensemble works Insomnia (1983), A Silent Shower (1987) and Leaving Without Trace (1997); Earthquake (1985) for male speaker and ensemble, and In a Walled Garden (1988) for soprano and ensemble, Apollinaire Choruses (1971-1994); and the opera Alice Under Ground (1995).