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Gabriel Jackson's music has been performed and broadcast throughout Europe and the USA and has been heard, in recent years, in Cape Town, Ho Chi Minh City, Kiev, Kuwait, Sydney, Tokyo and Vancouver. His works have been presented at many festivals in the UK and beyond and his liturgical pieces are in the repertoires of many of Britain's leading cathedral and collegiate choirs and in 2003 he won the liturgical category at the inaugural British Composer Awards. 'Salus Aeterna' is a bright and mercurial piece that makes full use of the delicious fleeting harmonies and close-written sonoroties of its flowing melodic lines. It sets a Sequence for Advent Sunday that looks forward to Christ's coming and subsequent judgement of all things. The exquisite miniature 'O Thou That Art The Light' sets an intimate prayer by St Augustine of Hippo asking for God's grace to know and serve Him. Simple and homophonic it is infused with Jackson's characteristic passion and luminosity. 'O fear the Lord' sets two verses from Psalm 34. A controlled organum-style opening gives way to a more fervent, harmonic middle section. An approachable and beautiful piece. 'Salve Regina' is an exquisite piece, simple and homophonic in style, and with a luminescent beauty characteristic of many of Jackson's choral works. The piece begins quietly and reverently. There is a graceful soprano solo in the central section, after which the harmony opens out and richly blossoms in ecstatic praise of the Virgin Mary, before ending serenely as it began. |
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The short expressive piece 'Ah, mine heart' sets a fifteenth-century penitential poem of great fervour. Jackson alternates a refrain in a simple plainsong style with more passionate, homophonic verses, to powerful effect. A setting of the Trinity Sunday text with achingly pure and fluid melodic lines feature throughout, imbuing the piece with characteristic clarity and luminosity. The change to A major for 'Trinitati in Unitate' is radiant, as is the final section, in which the choir divides into eight parts to proclaim the glory of the Trinity. Uplifting and powerful, this is rewarding music for committed choirs. Composed for the Feast of Corpus Christi, 'O Sacrum Convivium' has a poise and beauty rare in choral music. Jackson uses the full sonic opportunities offered by the divided scoring, moving effortlessly from controlled meditation to ecstatic fervour, all delivered with absolute belief and clarity. The anthem 'Now I Have Known, O Lord' is set to a text by the 10th-century Sufi mystic, Al-Junaid. For the most part, the mood is intimate and introspective; intertwining, whispered melodies, sometimes in free time, alternate with quiet homophony. There is a moment of soaring, unrestrained ecstasy towards the end of the piece before it draws to a hushed conclusion. Suitable for a variety of occasions, this is beautiful, challenging music for serious choirs. |
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This major work by one of Britain's leading choral composers was commissioned by St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. 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 flowing melismas, luminous key changes, and pure homophony. This is a work of great power that will appeal to committed concert and church choirs. |