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QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

TIMOTHY STALTER

Timothy Stalter Professor of Music/Director of Choral Activities University of Iowa School of Music [email protected]

34 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 ontemporary British composer Composers and Authors, winning the choral Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962) has category in 2013 and 2009 (Airplane Cantata C received much recognition in the and Spacious Firmament, respectively), and the form of performances, commissions, and liturgical category in 2003 (O Doctor Optime).4 awards throughout the United Kingdom In addition to the BBC Singers, his works and Europe. From 2010 to 2013 he was the have been championed by ensembles such as associate composer for the BBC Singers,1 The Sixteen, Polyphony, The Tallis Scholars, who premiered his In Nomine Domini at the Vasari Singers, Exon Singers, The Crossing, BBC Proms2 and commissioned his Airplane Netherlands Chamber Choir, Bella Voce, Cantata and Choral Symphony. The Dean Chapelle du Roi, and Cappella Nova. and Chapter of Westminster commissioned While Jackson has received some exposure Jackson to write an anthem (The Glory of the in North America, the consistent integrity dis- Lord) for the only ecumenical service held for played throughout his more than 100 published Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK in 2010,3 settings of rich and varied texts warrants more only a year after he had been granted a coveted exploration of his oeuvre. This article seeks to commission to compose a carol (The Christ increase knowledge of Gabriel Jackson through Child) for A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols an examination of his background and cre- at Kings College, Cambridge. Furthermore, ations, and provides strategies for approaching since 2003 his compositions have received problems of rehearsal and performance specifi c eight nominations at the British Choral Awards to his idiom. of the British Academy of Songwriters,

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Biography and Musical Profi le of Jackson’s work (A Vision of Aeroplanes), which eventually Gabriel Jackson was born in 1962 in Bermuda where led to the commission Cecilia Virgo in 2000. The millen- his father was working as a member of the Anglican nial year also saw the release of the fi rst CD devoted ex- Church clergy at Bermuda Cathedral. At the age of clusively to Jackson’s choral music, titled Gabriel Jackson: eight, Jackson was accepted as a boy chorister at Canter- Sacred Choral Works.12 Two years later, Polyphony (con- bury Cathedral in England, an experience that proved ducted by Stephen Layton) recorded another important formative to his concept of choral sound and a choir’s CD devoted to Jackson’s choral music (Jackson: Not no face- capabilities.5 Particularly infl uential was Organist and less Angel ).13 These recordings fi rmly established Jackson Master of Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral, Allan as one of the major choral composers of his generation. Wicks (1923–2010).6 Jackson stated that with Wicks, “It was all about intensity of communication. He was always seeking to move, to astonish, to enrapture the listener, Choral Works and Texts and that has never left me, that sense of the amazing Jackson is a prolifi c composer, with over 100 choral emotional eff ect choral singing can produce. The sound scores currently published by Oxford University Press, of voices in a resonant acoustic is my favourite thing in six published by the former British Music Information music, and this must originate from that experience.”7 Centre in the Contemporary Voices series, and two Because the Canterbury Cathedral music program was printed by other publishers.14 Of these works, approxi- centered on Renaissance (including early Tudor) and mately 80 percent were commissions from educational twentieth-century music, Jackson is “more interested, institutions (including commissions for pieces to be sung both as a listener and from a technical and conceptual in school chapels), British cathedrals/churches, and pro- point of view, in that music than Baroque, Classical, or fessional and semi-professional choirs, mostly in the UK. Romantic music.”8 Jackson maintains unanimity in certain aspects of Following his experiences at Canterbury Cathedral, composition throughout his works. First, whether Jack- he enrolled at the Canterbury public school of St. Ed- son is composing sacred music for the church/cathedral mund’s, where he developed aspirations of becoming or secular music for the concert hall, his approach to a cathedral organist or an architect. These interests compositional style is relatively uniform. He states: were ultimately superseded by his growing fascination with composition, which he began studying with Rich- I am rather suspicious of composers who write ard Blackford (b. 1954) at the Royal College of Music liturgical music in a diff erent style/language to [RCM] Junior Department in London.9 Jackson contin- their concert music—this seems patronizing to ued his studies with John Lambert, Blackford’s former performers and listeners. In fact, it has been teacher, winning the Theodore Holland Award in 1981 observed that some of my concert pieces sound and the R. O. Morris composition competition in 1981 like sacred works!15 and 1983. After earning his bachelor’s in music from the RCM Second, his music remains technically and musically in 1983, Jackson built his career by writing primarily demanding whether he is composing for amateur or instrumental music from the mid-1980s until Michael professional ensembles, a fact not surprising given the Nicholas (b. 1938), Organist and Master of Choristers excellent quality of many UK cathedral, university, and of Norwich Cathedral, expressed interest in his choral community choirs. While Jackson does consider the level music in the early 1990s.10 Jackson comments: “I was of the group for which he writes, even the least diffi cult very keen to start writing liturgical music again, as a way of his compositions are not without demands. of reconnecting with my past and as a way of continu- Texts utilized in Jackson’s published works span tem- ing to be involved in a tradition that is so special (and as porally from biblical to contemporary texts. Approxi- a way of exploring my feelings about Tudor music).”11 mately 75% are sacred and include liturgy, scripture, and In 1997, the BBC singers gave their fi rst performance poetry. In addition to setting familiar religious texts such

36 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

as Cantate Domino, O sacrum convivium, and two settings of refl ect the individual as well as the universal experience Salve Regina, Jackson has set a number of less common of loss.”16 To this end, Jackson removes the Kyrie, Dies liturgical and biblical texts, including a respond at Mat- irae sequence, Agnus Dei, and most of the Lux aeterna ins during Advent Sunday (I Look From Afar), the sixth and replaces them with poetry from a variety of spiri- respond at Matins on Trinity Sunday (Hymn to the Trin- tual disciplines, cultures, and periods: the Australian ity: Honor, Virtus et Potestas), and a Magnifi cat antiphon at Aboriginal poet Kevin Gilbert (1933-93), Samurai war- First and Second Vespers for the Feast of St. Thomas rior Hôjô Ujimasa (1538-90), Buddhist Ragindranath Aquinas (O Doctor Optime). His use of liturgical texts in- Tagore (1861-1941), Quaker Walt Whitman (1819-92), cludes three settings of the Magnifi cat and Nunc Dimittis and Mohican Chief Aupumut (c. 1725). What is striking (the Norwich, Truro, and Tewkesbury services), three about these texts is their agreement that death “is not Masses (Edinburgh, Triueriensis, and Sanctae Margaretae), one the end, but the gateway to another life.”17 An emphasis Passion (The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ), and a Re- on universality is ubiquitous throughout Jackson’s works. quiem. Because most of Jackson’s works are settings of sacred The Passion, Requiem, and To the Field of Stars are the texts, it might be assumed that he should be categorized three largest of Jackson’s sacred choral works, and each as a “religious” composer. Stephen Johnson comments make extensive use of texts that are seemingly disparate in the program notes of the CD, Not no faceless Angel: but ultimately prove complimentary. Jackson’s inten- tion in Requiem, for example, was to “combine the hi- In an age apparently dominated by secular ma- eratic, grave objectivity of the great Iberian Requiems terialism, novelists, poets, artists, and composers with something more personal, intimate even, so as to still return to what Jackson calls “a feeling for

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CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 37 QQUIETUIET CCONTEMPLATIONONTEMPLATION AANDND EECSTATICCSTATIC AABANDONBANDON

the numinous”—that sense, often fl eeting, of a Secular texts are carefully chosen for their depth and possible transcendent meaning, beyond human quality. For example, Jackson set a deeply romantic love comprehension. It may be nothing more than poem from Gilbert Brown’s translation of Marine by Paul a moment of stillness in an English cathedral Eluard (1895-1952) titled Song (or I gaze upon you) to be at dusk, as the choir begins a Tudor motet, or performed at a wedding by the choir of St. George’s the priest intones ancient phrases whose essence Chapel in Windsor. Jackson’s Airplane Cantata, commis- defi es the passing of time. Such moments— sioned by BBC Radio 3 for the BBC Singers and scored “private epiphanies,” Jackson calls them—can for choir and pianola, contains texts on the wonder and often catch us off guard; we may dismiss them, excitement over the early days of aviation, a particu- but for a moment perhaps they hint at some- lar passion of Jackson’s. Texts include poetry by Luigi thing beyond our everyday values and priorities. Tansillo (1510–1568), Humbert Wolfe (1885–1940), and And often it is music that seems to capture this Hart Crane (1899–1932), and fi rsthand accounts of the essence most faithfully and allow us to ponder it Wright brothers’ fi rst fl ight of the Kitty Hawk and jour- most deeply.18 nal entries by pilots Amelia Earhart (1897– c. 1937) and Louis Blériot (1872–1936). Other well-chosen texts include Robin Bell’s (b. 1945) Ruchill Linn, a peaceful poetic vignette of human re- sponse to a nocturnal scene; and the text I am the voice of the wind, written by a thirteen-year-old, Geraldine At- kinson, whose sudden death at the age of twenty-four prompted her parents to commission a work from Jack- son in her memory.19

Compositional Characteristics A service learning program and Techniques opportunity for student chapters Jackson’s compositional style is often austere and contemplative, using minimal harmonic and rhythmic ChorTransform takes students into setti ngs with movement, but is fi lled in equal measure with intricate underserved populati ons – such as urban or rural rhythms teaming with musical intensity and unfettered schools, under-resourced programs, or programs ecstasy. He comments: that lack administrati ve or community support – to help pre-service choral directors gain insights I try to write music that is clean and clear in line, into the challenges of early career teaching. texture, and structure; my pieces are made of simple melodies, chords, drones, and ostinatos. Interested? Want to learn how to start a They are not about confl ict and resolution; even program on your campus? when animated, they are essentially contempla- tive. I like repetition and “ritualised” structures. Contact the ACDA Nati onal Offi ce (Sundra Many of my pieces refl ect an interest in medi- Flansburg - sfl [email protected]) and ask for the eval techniques and ideas—I am particularly ChorTransform Toolkit, which describes program drawn to the ecstatic, panconsonant music of requirements and provides template agreements the early Tudor period.20 and other documents. Jackson’s unique compositional voice is largely due to

38 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

his utilization of eclectic techniques, the most prominent circumvents strong dominant-tonic relationships, even of which are discussed below. at cadential points, avoiding descending fi fths and as- cending fourths in the bass and frequently using inverted Panconsonant variants and minimalist textures. chords much like Hindemith. This lack of rootedness Though Jackson’s music cannot be characterized as suspends the music with little harmonic repose. Finally, panconsonant in its strictest sense, it contains character- Jackson employs parallel thirds and fourths in his moving istics that, when considered as an aggregate, produce a lines, which are very conjunct. panconsonant quality of sound. These characteristics Jackson’s musical texture in more contemplative sec- are particularly evident in slower, more contemplative tions is considered minimalistic by a number of British sections. First, Jackson’s harmonic language contains composers because of its simplicity and the preponder- controlled dissonance with few or no accidentals. Any ance of lines that are more static than active.21 Both pan- dissonance that does occur results from a diatonic collec- consonant and minimalistic characteristics can be seen in tion of pitches that seldom, if ever, changes within a sec- Jackson’s Salve Regina (Figure 1), which was commissioned tion. Second, Jackson displays a preference for complete for and premiered by the choir of Truro Cathedral in triads with added sevenths and fourths. Third, Jackson 2001.

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Block Structure. Sustained climaxes. Inspired by Medieval and Tudor music, Jackson often In order to heighten emotion in passages that convey composes in units or “blocks” of sound that may be dis- joy, light, or wonder, Jackson employs musical blocks of parate in key, tempo, and rhythm. In O sacrum convivium considerable intensity and duration. These sections have (Figure 2), an abrupt transition occurs in m. 42 with a an almost frenetic quality: they are highly melismatic sudden key change from E-fl at major to the unrelated and undulate with quasi-isorhythmic variety among D major with an added sixth (B) in the lowest sound- voices, most of which navigate narrow ranges in their ing voice, creating some ambiguity as to whether it is upper registers. in D major or its relative minor. Additionally, the mu- Jackson explains: sic quickly changes from a rather stagnant line (quarter note = 60) to “bright and clear” musical gestures with Much of the music that means the most to increased rhythmic activity (eighth note = 180).22 Jack- me—Perotin, the fl orid early Tudor compos- son comments on his handling of movement between ers, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky (in his codas and sections in his compositions: apotheoses, certainly), Tippett, Gorecki… I would describe as ecstatic. One of the most im- I am not interested in devel- opment, in transitions and modulations—all the things that are part and parcel of Classical/Romantic compo- sition. Writing music with- out those things is perhaps a way of composing tonally/ modally/diatonically in a way that is diff erent from eighteenth/nineteenth-cen- tury music. For me, com- posing is placing musical objects next to each other. They may be quite similar, and related, or they may be very diff erent in tempo, in scoring, in colour, in tonal- ity, in relative weight. So in order to achieve what is, for me, a satisfying structure, these blocks have to be care- fully ordered and considered in terms of how they relate to/contrast with each other. A very abrupt transition to an unrelated key is often … a way of achieving a dra- matic change in intensity.23

40 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

portant things that music can do, surely, is show enced Jackson’s use of sustained climaxes; he fi nds “the the possibility of a better world—a glimpse of endless melismatic writing very compelling,” as well as heaven, perhaps—I am very interested in try- “the ornateness of much of the reduced-voice sections, ing to achieve, at times, a kind of ecstatic aban- the fact that the music doesn’t really go anywhere, it just donment, a moment of overwhelming inten- is—a great slab of gorgeous, ecstatic polyphony.”25 sity (something that originates in Allan Wicks’ These sustained climaxes can occur without prelude approach to music, and his performances, I’m and at any time throughout a composition, an idea in ac- sure). I am very drawn to texts which have im- cordance with his view of block structures. Let us all rejoice ages of light in them, and try to create a daz- in the Lord (Figure 3), for example, opens and closes with zling brightness in sound through rich chords, these gestures, beginning on the word “rejoice” and re- high in tessitura, diatonically saturated, in close suming in mm. 63-74 at the end on the word “honour.” position.24 One of the most expansive uses of this technique is in Now I have known, O Lord, a setting of a Suni text from the The early Tudor composers have particularly infl u- Tenth Century by Al-Junaid, an early Muslim mystic, or

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Sufi .26 The sustained melismas on the words “wondrous” minor sonority on the word “wondrous,” at which time and “ecstatic” intensify in three distinct gestures. The the choir is divided into eight parts and sings rhythmical- section begins with an ascending gesture in E major that ly disparate melismas, creating an impression of amaze- arrives on an F-sharp natural minor 13th chord. This ment (Figure 4).27 Although the E Major full-spectrum chord then shifts upward to a G melodic remains, all sharps are naturalized except for F (this sec-

42 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

tion is one of only a few instances in which Jackson Aleatoric Parlando. uses accidentals). In Figure 5, the pivot tone G in the Jackson’s works frequently include sections in which SI part in m. 80 marks a radical departure from the G one or more voices repeat various phrases in succession melodic minor construct; the choir fi ttingly returns to with the direction “repeat ad. lib. (rapid parlando) in- the brighter key of E Major and the rhythm changes dependently of the conductor (and each other),” which to a quasi-homorhythmic, quarter-note triplet pattern creates a “wash” of sound that underlies one or more on the word “ecstatic.” The choir then continues in tutti sections or solo lines. In Ave, Regina caelorum, a set- its heightened state and rhythmically diminutes; the ting of the traditional Marian antiphon text with one singers remain in their upper registers while navigat- by Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) for SATB choir and ing multiple voice crossings until m. 87 (Figure 6 on electric guitar,28 a soprano soloist sings of St. Mary while page 44). the choir implores “et pro nobis Christum exora [and pray for us to Christ]” in rapid pianissimo parlando, creating the im- pression of a repeatedly murmured prayer to the Virgin (Figure 7 on page 45).

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Select Discography In total, Gabriel Jackson’s works appear on over ninety recordings. His compositions have been featured on eleven compact discs; a representative sample appears below. Gabriel Jackson: Airplane Cantata. BBC Singers; David Hill and James Morgan, conductors; Rex Lawson, pianola. Issued October 6, 2016, compact disc. Gabriel Jackson: To the Field of Stars. Nonsuch Singers; Tom Bullard, conductor. Issued April 8, 2016, Convivium Records CR032, compact disc. Vox Clara: Music by Gabriel Jackson. Truro Cathedral Choir; Christopher Gray, conductor. Issued July 29, 2016, Regent Records REGCD479, compact disc. Not no faceless Angel: Choral Music of Gabriel Jackson. Polyphony; Kenneth Layton, conductor. Issued 9 June 2009, Hyperion CDA67708, compact disc.

44 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 45 QQUIETUIET CCONTEMPLATIONONTEMPLATION AANDND EECSTATICCSTATIC AABANDONBANDON

Vocal Athleticism and Vowel Reiteration. without undue diffi culty. In a setting of William Blake Jackson’s most diffi cult compositions commonly fea- poetry (The Voice of the Bard, Figure 8), Jackson writes ture highly ornamented vocal lines most successfully highly ornamental lines and diffi cult, shifting rhythms performed by agile and fl exible singers. His moderate for all voices in unison, entreating the audience to “Hear tempos, however, normally allow them to be performed the voice of the Bard.”

46 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

The continual reiteration of the word “hear” hints ductors and ensembles and are mostly unaccompanied. at another feature characteristic of Jackson’s most dif- First, frequent divisions within each voice part in highly fi cult works—vowel repetition. In this technique, a single ornamental sections make transparency of individual vowel is repeated, often with separation, creating an ef- lines in the aggregate diffi cult, particularly when the fect similar to, but less rapid than, the trillo ornament of voices are moving rapidly. In addition, although acci- the early Baroque. One particularly striking example is dentals are rare in Jackson’s music, dense harmonies and the opening fi ve measures of Aeterna caeli gloria (Figure 9) active counterpoint are common; attention to intonation in which the second “e” in “Aeterna [eternal]” is reiterated in both textures is crucial. twenty-nine times. Jackson later employs this technique, Second, Jackson places great technical demands on along with unpredictable rhythms and a relatively static the voice through his use of high tessitura, ornamenta- harmonic structure, to aptly text paint the word “Sempi- tion in the form of grace notes before the beat, slow to terna [forever],” with nineteen repetitions of the fi rst vowel rapid reiteration of vowels, and secco staccato articulation. (mm. 83-86, not shown). These are not insurmountable problems, but proper technique regarding their execution must be taught and rehearsed to achieve unanimity. In addition, because of Rehearsal and Performance Jackson’s use of sustained climaxes with high tessituras Though not all of Jackson’s compositions are diffi cult, and intense, almost gymnastic rhythmic activity, it is they usually present a number of challenges to both con- important to be mindful of the demands placed on the

CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 47 QQUIETUIET CCONTEMPLATIONONTEMPLATION AANDND EECSTATICCSTATIC AABANDONBANDON voice and to limit vocal strain by alternating diffi cult and Resources easier passages, or by rehearsing on a single pitch or an The following websites contain further information octave lower than printed, if possible, to master rhythms on the words of Gabriel Jackson. and pitches, respectively. Third, since the vast majority of Jackson’s composi- http://gabrieljackson.london tions were commissioned to be sung in reverberant halls, https://global.oup.com/academic/category/ he frequently provides space (rests) in his music for sound arts-and-humanities/sheet-music/composers/ to dissipate in performance, which can become vacuous jacksong/?lang=en&cc=us when sung in dry spaces. Additionally, his slow sections will sound more reinforced, and aleatoric “washes” will https://ukchoralcomposers.lib.uiowa.edu amalgamate more convincingly, in reverberant perfor- mance spaces. Despite the many challenges inherent in the music of NOTES Gabriel Jackson, his careful selection of texts, and his sensitive and creative settings of those texts, make his 1 Jackson followed Edward Cowie (appointed 2002) and Judith music wholly worthwhile to rehearse and perform. Con- Bingham (appointed 2005) and preceded Judith Wier ductors and choirs in the United States should further (appointed 2015). explore the great depth and breadth of his compositions 2 “All Performances of Gabriel Jackson,” British Broadcasting not in spite of, but because of, their inherent challenges Company [BBC] Proms, accessed June 10, 2017, https:// in addition to their signifi cant textural and textual vari- www.bbc.co.uk/proms/events/works/e0616177-e8e3- ety. 4a79-925f-d30b80690da9. In Nomine Domini premiered on September 4, 2010, and is a setting of the poem of the same name by John Bradburne (1921-1979) scored for choir, harp, percussion, and string quartet. 3 Gabriel Jackson, The Glory of the Lord, Oxford University Press [OUP], 2010. The Service of Evening Prayer was

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48 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

held at Westminster Abbey on September 17, 2010, and compact disc. was attended by Pope Benedict XVI and Dr. Rowan 14 Please see the list of Published Choral Works. The BMIC Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. The anthem was has been moved from London to the University of performed by the Westminster Abbey Choir conducted Huddersfi eld in West Yorkshire, UK. It is not clear by James O’Donnell. whether or not they will continue publishing the Gabriel 4 “British Composer Awards Shortlist Archive,” Jackson compositions under their Contemporary Voices BASCA, accessed June 10, 2017, http://www. scheme. A database of their collection can be viewed britishcomposerawards.com/shortlist_archive.php. online at http://www.britishmusiccollection.org.uk/ and Jackson was also shortlisted in the liturgical category is managed under Sound and Music, an organization that in 2005 (Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury), 2007 (Orbis patrator promotes and supports the creation and dissemination of optime), 2011 (The Glory of the Lord), and 2013 (Cantate new music in the UK. http://soundandmusic.org/. Domino), and in the choral category in 2013 (Choral 15 Gabriel Jackson, email message to author, November 23, Symphony). 2010. 5 Gabriel Jackson, email message to author, November 23, 16 Composer’s Note in Requiem score, OUP, 2009. 2010. 17 Ibid. 6 “Allan Wicks: organist,” The Times, February 11, 2010, 18 Stephen Johnson, compact disc notes in CD booklet from Not http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/ no faceless Angel: Choral Music by Gabriel Jackson, Polyphony article7022331.ece. with Stephen Layton, conductor, recorded January 7 Gabriel Jackson, email message to author, November 23, 2008, Hyperion CDA67708, p. 5. Johnson is a journalist, 2010. author, music commentator, and composer/musician who 8 Ibid. works for BBC Radio. 9 Richard Blackford is an English composer and conductor 19 Please see the list of Published Choral Works for texts, who studied composition with Elisabeth Lutyens (1906- secular and sacred. 1983) and John Lambert (1926-1995), and conducting 20 “Gabriel Jackson,” Sound and Music: British Music with Norman Del Mar (1919-1994) at the RCM during Collection, accessed June 10, 2017, http:// his student years. britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/gabriel-jackson. 10 Nicholas, along with composer, conductor, and Lay Clerk 21 Several British composers interviewed by the author referred of Norwich Cathedral, Peter Aston (b. 1938), founded to certain British composers as minimalists; this usage is the Norwich Cathedral’s Festival of Contemporary distinct from that which is applied to the music of such Church Music, which was held intermittently for six composers as Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and John Adams. years between 1981 and 1997 (Martin Thomas, English 22 Gabriel Jackson, O sacrum convivium, OUP, 2003, p. 6. Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century, Ashgate, 23 Gabriel Jackson, email message to author, November 23, 2015, p. 213). The Norwich Festival was superseded by 2010. the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music in 24 Ibid. 2002, directed by Christopher Batchelor. The London 25 Ibid. Festival annually presents concerts and services of 26 Arthur John Arberry, Sufi sm: An Account of the Mystics of Islam contemporary music. Accessed July 5, 2017, http://www. (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1950), p. 59. lfccm.com. The text by Al-Junaid is translated by A. J. Arberry. 11 Gabriel Jackson, email message to author, April 19, 2011. 27 The stacked thirds in the f13 chord (mm. 72-73) can be 12 Gabriel Jackson: Sacred Choral Works, Choir of St. Mary’s analyzed as being composed of two interlocking seventh Cathedral, Matthew Owens, conductor, issued January chords built on the fi rst and seventh scale degrees of F 5, 2007, Delphian DCD3407, compact disc. Owens natural minor (fm7 and EM7). is now Organist and Master of the Choristers at Wells 28 Ave, Regina caelorum was commissioned by the International Cathedral. Guitar Foundation, The Sixteen, and Kings Place for the 13 Jackson: Not no faceless Angel, Polyphony, Stephen Layton, opening of Kings Place, London, in 2008. conductor, issued June 9, 2009, Hyperion CDA67708,

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Published Choral Works Title Date of Composition Scoring Textual Source(s) According to Seneca 2011 SATB (div.) Gustaf Sobin Adoro te devote 2012 SATB St. Thomas Aquinas Aeterna caeli gloria 2007 SSAATTBB fi fth-century Ambrosian hymn Ah, mine heart 1987 SSAATB anonymous fi fteenth-century penitential hymn Airplane Cantata 2011 SATB (div.), pianola Luigi Tansillo, Orville Wright, Humbert Wolfe, Louis Blériot, Sir George Cayley, Amelia Earhart, and Hart Crane All shall be Amen 2016 SATB (div.) Augustine of Hippo Am Abend 2013 SATB (div.) Georg Trakl Ane Sang of the Birth of Christ 2002 SATB (div.), S solo, attributed to John Wedderburn organ Angeli, archangeli 2007 SSATB Antiphon at First Vespers, Feast of All Saints, and Colin Tan Ave Dei patris fi lia 2012 SSAATB (div.) traditional Marian antiphon text Ave gloriosa mater salvatoris 2014 SSAATTBB excerpts from a medieval hymn from Reading Abbey and William Wordsworth Ave Maria 2004 SSAATTBB, SS solos Angelic Salutation Ave maris stella 2017 SATB, alto sax Hymn at First Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Anna Rancane Ave, Regina caelorum 2008 SSATB, S solo, electric traditional Marian antiphon text and Christina Rossetti guitar But let my due feet never fail 2013 SATB (div.) and organ excerpt from John Milton’s Il Penseroso Cantate Domino 2013 SATB (div.), S solo, Vulgate Psalm 95: 1-4, 9-11, 13 organ Cantus Maris Baltici 2009 SSSAAATTTBBB settings of poems from the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania): Andres Ehin, Maironis, Mirdza Bendrupe, Jaan Kaplinski, and Francis Bacon Cecelia Virgo 2000 SSSAAATTBBB sixteenth-century text of supplication to St. Cecilia (S x 6 solos) Choral Symphony 2012 SATB x 6 texts about London including anonymous (c. 1500 & 1739), Isaac Rosenberg, Oscar Wilde, Amy Lowell, Louise Imogen Guiney, George the Poet, Lionel Johnson, Thomas Freeman, Walter Jerrold, Publius Cornelius Tacitus, and John Davidson The Christ-child 2009 SATB (div.), S solo G. K. Chesterton Christmas Eve 2016 SATB (div.) Christina Rossetti Christmas Hymn* 1996 SATB First Respond at Matins, Christmas Day

Confi rma hoc 2014 SATB (div.) Offertory at Pentecost (from Two Pentacost Motets)

50 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2018 Volume 58 Number 9 QUIET CONTEMPLATION AND ECSTATIC ABANDON THE CHORAL MUSIC OF GABRIEL JACKSON

Countless and wonderful are the 2012 SATB, vln IA & B, vln II, Doris Kereva ways to praise God vla, vc, db Creator of the Stars of Night 2000 SAATB, S solo, organ anonymous, seventh-century text Ecce venio cito 2005 SSATB (div.), S solo Revelation 22: 12, 13, & 17 Edinburgh Mass 2001 SATB (div.), SSAA Mass text solos, SSAATB soli Factus est 2014 SATB (div.) Communion at Pentecost (from Two Pentacost Motets) Felices ter et amplius 2015 SATB x 2 Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) The Glory of the Lord 2010 SSAATTBB Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England Holy is the true light 2013 SATB (div.) Salisbury Diurnal Hymn to St. Margaret of Scotland 2011 SATB (div.) Medieval Scottish text; Collect for St. Margaret of Scotland (1929 Scottish Book of Common Prayer) Hymn to the Trinity 2000 SATB (div.), SSA solos Sixth Respond at Matins, Trinity Sunday (Honor, Virtus, et Potestas) Hush! my dear 2011 SATB Isaac Watts (in Carols for Choirs 5) I am the voice of the wind 2010 SSAATTBB Geraldine Atkinson I look from afar 1991 SSATB, SAATT solos Matin Responsory; Advent Sunday In all his works 2010 ATTBB Ecclesiasticus 47: 8-10 In memoriam 2014 SSAATTBB One stanza of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam A.H.H. In the beginning was the Word 2009 SATB (div.), ST solos, John 1: 1-14 organ in the half-light dusk 2013 SATB (div.) Thomas A. Clark I say that we are wound with mercy 2014 S(S)ATB, organ Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. I sing the birth was born tonight 2017 SATB, organ Ben Johnson Ita Missa Est 2016 PD ATBarB traditional liturgical text Jesu, Rex admirabilis 2009 SATB, organ Hymn at Matins on the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, attrib. to St. Bernard of Clairvaux Justorum animae 2009 SATB (div.) Offertory for the Feast of All Saints Lamentations of Jeremiah 2012 SSAATTBB excerpts from the Book of Jeremiah for Maundy Thursday The Land of Spices 2008 trebles, organ George Herbert Let us all rejoice in the Lord 2008 SATB (div.) Antiphon for All Saints The Lord’s Prayer* 2002 SATB (div.) Matthew 6: 9-13 Luce coruscas (herself a rose) 2012 SATB Hymn at Vespers, Feast of the Assumption, and Christina Rossetti Lux mortuorum 1995 SSAATTBB; SSATB solos Richard George Elliott

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The Magi 2006 SATB (div.), organ Matthew 2:1-2 and W.B. Yeats Magnifi cat and Nunc dimittis 1993/ rev. 1998 SSAATTBB, organ Luke 1:46-55 and 2:29-32 (Norwich Service)* Magnifi cat and Nunc dimittis 2006 SSATB, organ Luke 1:46-55 and 2:29-32 (Tewkesbury Service) Magnifi cat and Nunc dimittis 2001 SATB (div.) Luke 1:46-55 and 2:29-32 (Truro Service) Mass for All Saints 2016 SATB, Congregation (or Mass text semi-chorus), organ Missa Sanctae Margaretae 2010 SATB (div.), S solo, Mass text organ Missa Triueriensis 2005 SATB (div.) Mass text La musique 2013 SSAATTBB, S Solo Elizabeth Bishop and Charles Baudelaire Neviens putnis ta neputa 2014 SATB traditional Latvian text (in Amber Songs)† Not no faceless Angel 2005 SATB (div.), SATB Tanya Lake solos, vc, fl Nowell sing we 2006 SATB anonymous, fi fteenth-century text Now I have known, O Lord 2004 SSAATTBB, SATB solos Al-Junaid (tenth-century Sufi ) O Adonai 2014 TTBB traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) O Clavis David 2012 SATB (div.) traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) O Emmanuel 2014 SATB (div.) traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) O Oriens 2014 SATB (div.) traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) O Radix Jesse 2014 SSAA traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) O Rex Gentium 2014 SATB (div.) traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) O Sapienta 2014 SATB (div.) traditional “O” Advent antiphon text (from Seven Advent Antiphons) Oculi omnium 2007 SATB Psalm 145: 15 and gradual text O Doctor optime 2003 SSATB Magnifi cat Antiphon at First and Second Vespers, Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas O fear the Lord 1997 SATB Psalm 34: 9–10 O nata lux* 1990 ATTBB men’s choir Offi ce Hymn for Lauds, Feast of the Transfi guration

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O quam gloriosum 2015 SSAATTB(B), organ Magnifi cat Antiphon at All Saints and Revelation 7:12 Orbis patrator optime 2006 SSAATTBB Hymn for Lauds on the Feast of the Guardian Angels and St. Robert Bellarmine O sacrum convivium 1990 SSSSAATTBB Antiphon at Second Vespers, Corpus Christi O salutaris hostia 2015 SATB (div.) St. Thomas Aquinas (Hymn at Lauds, Corpus Christi) O thou that art the light 2001 SATB St. Augustine of Hippo Our fl ags are wafting in hope and 2014 SSAATTBB Doris Kareva grief The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ 2014 SATB (div.), ST solos, Libretto compiled by Rev. Dr. Simon Jones, Chaplain of Merton picc (+afl ), bcl, ssx College, Oxford: Four Gospels, Venantius Fortunatus, Pope (+asx), horn, perc (1 Innocent VI, and poets/writers associated with Merton College player), hp, vln, vla, (Oxford): Edward Reynolds, Edmund Blunden, Thomas Carew, and vc, db T. S. Elliot A Prayer of King Henry VI 2002 SSAATTBB King Henry VI Preces and Responses 2003 SATB Book of Common Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Pure religion and undefi led before 1999 Treble Choir James 1:27 God * (div. 4), organ

Requiem 2008 SSAATTBB, SATB solos Missa pro defunctis, Kevin Gilbert, Hojo Ujimasa, Walt Whitman, Rabindranath Tagore, and Chief Aupumut Rigwreck 2013 S x 6, ATB x 3 Pierre Joris on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 Ruchill Linn 2010 SSAATTBB (div.) Robin Bell Salus aeterna 2002 SSAATB (div.) Sequence for Advent Sunday and anonymous, eleventh-century text Salve Regina 2000 SATB (div.), S solo Traditional Marian antiphon attrib. to Herman Contractus Salve Regina 2 2004 SSAATTBB, SATB solos Traditional Antiphon to the Blessed Virgin Mary attrib. to Herman Contractus, Anonymous (15th century), Geoffrey Chaucer recomposed by William Wordsworth, and Anonymous (13th century) recomposed by Peter Davidson Sanctum est verum lumen 2005 8 x SATBB choir Antiphon at First Vespers, Feast of All Saints

Seven Advent Motets 2011-2012, 2014 SATB (div.), SSAA, and Seven Magnifi cat “O” Antiphons at Vespers TTBB A Ship with unfurled sails 2009 SAATB (div.) Doris Kareva Solitude/Vientuliba 2011 2 x SATB choir John Keats and Ronald Briedis Song (I gaze upon you) 1996 SATB (div.) Paul Eluard The Spacious Firmament 2008 SSAATTBB, SATB solos, Joseph Addison brass quintet, organ

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The Spacious Firmament 2: Yet we 2008 SSAATTBB, SAT solos, Colin Tan who neither burn nor shine trumpet Spring Rounds 2015 SATB, S Solo, orchestra Thomas Carew, Louis Untermeyer, Edward James, Fulke Geville, Latvju Dainas, Gerald Manley Hopkins, and Billy Collins Stabat mater 2018PD SSSSAATTBB Traditional thirteenth-century Hymn to Mary Tantum ergo 2015 SATB (div.) Hymn at Benediction by St. Thomas Aquinas (last two vs. of Pange Lingua) Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury 2004 SSAATTBB, TB solos Fourteenth-century Cambridge manuscript: Gonville & Caius College, MS 512 Thou whose birth 2007 trebles, organ Algernon Charles Swinburne Three Prayers, with a vision of light 2013 SATB (div.) St. Augustine of Hippo, Baldwin of Forde, St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Archbishop of Canterbury (12th century), and Doris Kareva Three Shakespeare Songs 2016 SATB (div.) William Shakespeare To Morning 2007 SSATB (div.) William Blake Tomorrow go ye forth 1992 SSATB (div.) Vesper Responsory: Advent Sunday To Music 2009 SSAATTBB Robert Herrick Tota pulchra es 2011 SATB (div.) fourth-century Latin prayer To the fi eld of stars 2011 SSAATTBB, 2 Codex Calixtinus, Carmina Gadelica, John Adams, William Cowper, percussion, vc Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Antiphon at First Vespers, (Feast of St. James), Magnifi cat Antiphon at Second Vespers (Feast of All Saints), Magnifi cat Antiphon at Second Vespers (Feast of St. James) Two Pentecost Motets 2014 SATB (div.) Confi rma hoc Deus and Factus est Ubi caritas 2016 SATB Offertory at Maundy Thursday and John Boyle O’Reilly Vidi aquam 2011 SSATB, organ Antiphon at Mass, Eastertide A Vision of Aeroplanes* 1997 Chamber Choir: 6S, 4A, anonymous 4T, 4B The Voice of the Bard 2007 SSAATTBB, SATB solos William Blake Vox clara ecce intonat 2013 SATB (div.), Sop. Sax Hymn at Lauds during Advent Winter heavens 2011 SSAATTBB (div.), George Meredith TTTTBBBB solos Yes, I Am Your Angel ‡ 2016 SATB Karlis Verdins

Titles: Capitalization is in accordance with the published titles. Dates of Composition: All dates designate the year of completion except those marked PD (published date). Scoring: SATB (div.) designates scores that are mostly SATB with occasional divisions; SSAATTBB and other derivations designate scores that are mostly divisi. Publishers: All scores are published by Oxford University Press except when indicated: [*] Published by the British Music Information Centre’s [BMIC] Contemporary Voices publication scheme; [†] Published in Amber Songs by Musica Baltica (MB 1639); [‡] Published in Jeff Quartets Omnibus Edition published and distributed by the ensemble The Crossing.

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