Nigel Morgan likes to view percussion as a personal and multi-faceted instrument. His seven chamber works featuring percussion present music that is soloistic and of equal significance alongside melody and harmony instruments. In his three extended duos, for percussion with guitar, violin and trombone / horn respectively, untuned percussion has a distinct and democratic musical presence. Chamber scores with voice such as Many Years and No Turning and Heart of the Rock wholly integrate percussion into the musical argument. For the larger ensemble there is the large-scale Seven Magical Preludes commissioned for the percussionists of BBCNOW as an upbeat to Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. In Heartstone, Conversations in Colour, Rhythm of the Stones and Metanoia (all written for student forces) there are substantial roles for percussion quartet and larger groups.

It is with experimental works like Self Portrait, BBC commission Schizophonia, Axioms and the Six Concertos that a balanced duo of tuned and untuned percussion becomes a permanent feature - usually as part of a continuo-like ensemble alongside keyboard and bass instruments. In most of these works a set instrumentation is suggested rather than required. Players can extend their parts through improvisation and the use of ethnic or electronic instruments.
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