Description
This important contemporary Requiem demonstrates Gabriel Jackson's gift for writing mesmerising choral music on a large scale. Combining sections of the traditional Requiem text with poems from other cultures and traditions, Jackson here has created a work which embraces a wide-ranging perspective on human mortality. Each movement is given a different character and musical style, and the result is a unique, sublime work which cannot fail to impress. Vocal scores are available on sale and on hire/rental.
'Jackson's Requiem is a masterpiece in my view' International Record Review
About the Author
One of Britain's foremost composers, after three years as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, Gabriel Jackson went on to study composition with Richard Blackford and John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. Particularly acclaimed for his choral works, his liturgical pieces are in the repertoires of most of Britain's cathedral and collegiate choirs and he is a frequent collaborator with the leading professional groups of the world. From 2010-2013 he was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. In 2014 his hour-long The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned for the 750th anniversary of Merton College, Oxford, was premiered in its chapel. May 2015 saw the premiere at the Latvian National Opera of Spring Rounds for soprano, choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Riga-based youth choir Kamer for their 25th anniversary. He was recently commissioned by The Marian Consort to write Stabat Mater to mark their 10th anniversary.
Reviews
Prominent among his British contemporaries by reason of a prolific output and engaging style, Gabriel Jackson is now enjoying much attention by some of the nation's finest choirs. Jackson is a master at turning a memorable phrase; a motif or pattern grasps the listener and is immediately appealing. His Requiem does not disappoint in this regard, especially in its hypnotic conclusion. This work is an intriguing blend of the traditional movements of the Latin Mass for the Dead with sources far beyond the conventional canon. What unites these diverse texts is their shared view of death, not as the end, but 'the gateway to a better world'. As such, this is a substantilal composition that would well serve an unaccompanied choir eager to present a major work that embraces a wide range of beliefs. * Philip Barnes, Choral Journal, June 2014 *
Jackson's skillful manipulation of color and texture make him one of our most interesting composers and this Requiem is very strong. The traditional Latin sections (he doesnt set the Die irae) flirt with older music, but their simple melodies and occasional use of drones voiced in daring textures is classic Jackson, familiar but absolutely unique. The interpolations are stunners. Epitaph with its stuttering rhythms, Autumn and its whispering effects and the breathtaking Peace, my heart (as lovely a piece of English choral writing you will ever hear in the post-Howells era) are all strong enough to stand on their own. * www.ariama.com *
Jackson's setting is deeply affecting, notable for vocal effects that acknowledge, without a trace of artifice, the origin of the words. Humour rarely surfaces in Requiem settings, but Jackson's music often surprises, and his treatment of an elliptical Japanese poem will surely provoke a smile . . . Jackson's Requiem is a masterpiece in my view, and the performance from the Vasari Singers and Jeremy Backhouse is beyond praise. * William Hedley, International Record Review, October 2012 *
Soft, consolatory, warmly glowing: that's the atmosphere created by Gabriel Jackson in the opening movement of his Requiem. 'Radiantly optimistic' is Jackson's own way of describing the work, reflecting a belief that death is 'the gateway to a better world'. * Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193364875
Author Gabriel Jackson
Page Count 72
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 297mm * 210mm * 9mm
'Jackson's Requiem is a masterpiece in my view' International Record Review
About the Author
One of Britain's foremost composers, after three years as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, Gabriel Jackson went on to study composition with Richard Blackford and John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. Particularly acclaimed for his choral works, his liturgical pieces are in the repertoires of most of Britain's cathedral and collegiate choirs and he is a frequent collaborator with the leading professional groups of the world. From 2010-2013 he was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. In 2014 his hour-long The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned for the 750th anniversary of Merton College, Oxford, was premiered in its chapel. May 2015 saw the premiere at the Latvian National Opera of Spring Rounds for soprano, choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Riga-based youth choir Kamer for their 25th anniversary. He was recently commissioned by The Marian Consort to write Stabat Mater to mark their 10th anniversary.
Reviews
Prominent among his British contemporaries by reason of a prolific output and engaging style, Gabriel Jackson is now enjoying much attention by some of the nation's finest choirs. Jackson is a master at turning a memorable phrase; a motif or pattern grasps the listener and is immediately appealing. His Requiem does not disappoint in this regard, especially in its hypnotic conclusion. This work is an intriguing blend of the traditional movements of the Latin Mass for the Dead with sources far beyond the conventional canon. What unites these diverse texts is their shared view of death, not as the end, but 'the gateway to a better world'. As such, this is a substantilal composition that would well serve an unaccompanied choir eager to present a major work that embraces a wide range of beliefs. * Philip Barnes, Choral Journal, June 2014 *
Jackson's skillful manipulation of color and texture make him one of our most interesting composers and this Requiem is very strong. The traditional Latin sections (he doesnt set the Die irae) flirt with older music, but their simple melodies and occasional use of drones voiced in daring textures is classic Jackson, familiar but absolutely unique. The interpolations are stunners. Epitaph with its stuttering rhythms, Autumn and its whispering effects and the breathtaking Peace, my heart (as lovely a piece of English choral writing you will ever hear in the post-Howells era) are all strong enough to stand on their own. * www.ariama.com *
Jackson's setting is deeply affecting, notable for vocal effects that acknowledge, without a trace of artifice, the origin of the words. Humour rarely surfaces in Requiem settings, but Jackson's music often surprises, and his treatment of an elliptical Japanese poem will surely provoke a smile . . . Jackson's Requiem is a masterpiece in my view, and the performance from the Vasari Singers and Jeremy Backhouse is beyond praise. * William Hedley, International Record Review, October 2012 *
Soft, consolatory, warmly glowing: that's the atmosphere created by Gabriel Jackson in the opening movement of his Requiem. 'Radiantly optimistic' is Jackson's own way of describing the work, reflecting a belief that death is 'the gateway to a better world'. * Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193364875
Author Gabriel Jackson
Page Count 72
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 297mm * 210mm * 9mm
