Gabriel Jackson's O Quam Gloriosum for SATB and Organ. Written for the 20th Anniversary of Norwich Cathedral Girls' Choir this setting of the well-known All Saints Day text juxtaposes flowing melodic lines in the sopranos with rich homophonic passages each bringing the text to the fore. The Organ plays a prominent role providing gentle undulating accompaniment as well as fanfare-like exclamati…
Gabriel Jackson's Hymn To The Trinity (Honor Virtus Et Potestas) for SATB Choir (divisi) as first performed by Chapelle du Roi directed by Alistair Dixon at the collegiate Church of St Mary Warwick on 11 July 2000.
The Missa Sanctae Margaretae is a stunning new setting of the Missa Brevis showcasing Jackson's mesmerizing choral writing. Scored for SATB and organ the accessible choral lines move through a variety of textures and harmonies with linear passages in the Kyrie and Agnus Dei and rich chordal writing in the Gloria. The idiomatic organ accompaniment brings additional flavour to the music sometim…
Commissioned by King's College Cambridge for the 2009 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols this beautiful carol sets a well-loved text by G. K. Chesterton. With Jackson's trademark luscious harmonies alongside gentle changes in metre and mode this piece would make an ideal introduction to Jackson's music for mixed choirs.
This is a joyful work for organ and trumpet. Jackson employs a sectional structure contrasting celebratory clamorous writing with moments of intimacy and reflection.
Spring Rounds is a significant work that is rich in variety and orchestral colours. Jackson has selected texts by a multiplicity of authors from the seventeenth-century poet Thomas Carew to contemporary writer Billy Collins to create a profound and interesting reflection on the titular season.
In this spacious motet Jackson creates an original sound-world in praise of the Virgin Mary. Traditional Latin texts are combined with a Christina Rossetti poem celebrating the Annunciation.
For SSATB (with divisions) unaccompanied. This setting of a poem by William Blake is evocative and appealing. Jackson ingeniously offsets simple pure harmonies against moments of chromaticism to create beautiful fresh music which perfectly captures the essence of the words.New Horizons showcases the wealth of exciting innovative and occasionally challenging choral music being written today. It…
This work was awarded the British Composer Award for Liturgical Music in 2003 but is published for the first time in 2013. The Roman Catholic Liturgy includes an antiphon to the Magnificat at Vespers O Doctor optime which Jackson sets incorporating medieval influences such as plainsong.
Setting Joseph Addison's text Jackson explores the use of vivid imagery the poem provides through this dramatic medium. Rather than using the full forces of choir brass and organ throughout the piece proceeds through varied antiphonal groupings accompanying typically imaginative choral writing.
Ever-changing in mood and pace La Musique is a setting of poems by Elizabeth Bishop and Charles Baudelaire on the transformative power of music. Jackson musically represents the complex psychological shifts contained in the texts' metaphors through alternating fully notated and indeterminate passages.
Commissioned by The Maryland State Boychoir in 2017 this striking Christmas piece sets a famous text by Ben Jonson. Jackson's attractive and largely diatonic harmonies combine with vivid word-setting deft manipulations of texture and a colourful organ part to create a mood of gentle rapture with a central section that explores more conflicted atmospheres.
This major work by one of Britain's leading choral composers was commissioned by St Mary's Cathedral Edinburgh. Jackson's only mass to date the setting is terse and direct in the manner of the Poulenc Mass and the textures often unusually pared-down. By turns fiery and exuberant and inward and numinous the music includes a huge variety of textures and techniques including flower melismas l…
Jackson's Holy Is The True Light sets a text translated from the Salisbury Diurnal that emphasizes the solace of faith in times of conflict. The fluid changes in time and key signatures and effective division of voices create a strong musical impression of serenity and strength.
This piece stems from an ongoing partnership between the composer and the writer Richard George Elliott. The profound sentiments expressed in Elliot's poem about the firmament are evoked by Jackson's use of colourful shimmering textures and an underlying sense of spaciousness. An impressive concert work this is complex but utterly compelling choral writing.
Setting Joseph Addison's text Jackson explores the use of vivid imagery the poem provides through this dramatic medium. Rather than using the full forces of choir brass and organ throughout the piece proceeds through varied antiphonal groupings accompanying typically imaginative choral writing.
For SATB (with divisions) unaccompaniedThis atmospheric piece sets a haunting secular text by Doris Kareva. In style it is contemplative with a clear expansive melody and Jackson skilfully conjures up a sense of the undulations of a ship at sea through the lilting lines of the accompanying voices. This piece is an ideal choice for choirs looking for something unique and memorable for their next …
In this spacious motet Jackson creates an original sound-world in praise of the Virgin Mary. Traditional Latin texts are combined with a Christina Rossetti poem celebrating the Annunciation.
Jackson's work couples the expressive language of a medieval Latin hymn with the Collect for St Margaret of Scotland. The use of hockets and isorhythms give the music a deep medieval grounding whilst the beautifully ornamented melodies bring out a distinctively 'Scottish' sound to this dramatic work.
Jackson's Cantus Maris Baltici ('Songs of the Baltic Sea') is a rich and imaginative setting of poems from each of the three Baltic countries. It displays innovative choral textures and is a rewarding piece for any advanced choir.
Setting a text by George Herbert depicting the awe and mystery of the Christian faith this simple work for trebles and organ makes full use of Jackson's gift for melody with his trademark florid organ accompaniment.
The Orgelbuchlein Project is a long running project to complete Bach's unfinished collection of organ music. Bach inscribed the title of 164 Chorales in his manuscript but only composed 46 of them. This short chorale setting for solo organ is Jackson's contribution to the completion of the set.
Written in 2004 Jackson harks back to the time of the Eton Choirbook with this expansive polyphonic Salve Regina with its intricate and delicate interspersions in English decorating the celebrated Latin hymn in praise of Mary.
Grodek is thought to be the last work of the Austrian poet Georg Trakl; the title refers to the town where Trakl served as a medical officer in the First World War. Jackson's setting captures the darkness of the text with an eerie opening building to a powerful climax.
This set of Preces and Responses including the Lord's Prayer will be enjoyed by all seeking new material for the liturgy. The largely syllabic four-part setting harks back to the music of the great Tudor masters while the expressive harmony - including a magical key change for the Lord's Prayer and some mellifluous Amens - are pure Jackson.
Bright electric and charged with energy this setting of one of the seven Advent 'O' Antiphons features Jackson's characteristic flourishes of melodic ornamentation tempered by moments of calm from the sustained lower voices and softly spoken phrases in the upper voices.
This large-scale work shows Jackson at his most inventive in his choral writing. The vocally demanding score evokes positive aspects of solitude and silence. It sets two poems: 'O Solitude' by John Keats and 'Klusums' (Silence) by the Latvian poet Ronalds Briedis.
This stunning setting of Revelation 22:12-13 17 describes Christ's generous offering of grace to 'whoever is willing'. The piece begins with a lively opening but quickly shifts into a gentler mood giving way to Jackson's rich harmonic language and inventive choral textures.
