Edinburgh Mass by Gabriel Jackson

Edinburgh Mass by Gabriel Jackson

for SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied 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.

This (unaccompanied) mass is one of his most striking compositions to date. . all is integrated into a personal and increasingly purposeful idiom, typically contemplative but characteristically warm, radiant, even ecstatic. Edinburgh Mass is a dramatic and virtuoso piece, not least to perform, written in a language which most choirs and (one hopes) their audiences will find rewarding and effective, whether in a concert or in the liturgy. * Matthew Greenall, The Singer, August 07 *
Gabriel Jackson's Edinburgh Mass employs a collage of inflected plainsong over drones, Duruflé-inspired expressive close harmony, sprung 3/4, 3/8 and 2/4 rhythms, and even Goreckian eight-part choral sonorities. Generally the contrasts work effectively to blend the contemporary and archaic, and the piece will be a rewarding sing for a competent and confident choir . . . However, where there is complexity, it is not there for its own sake but in order to heighten the intensity and impact of the moment. Thoroughly recommended. * Tom Wiggall, Music Teacher July 07 *
The Edinburgh Mass is a much more extrovert piece, unusually so in Jackson's choral output. There is a huge variety of textures . . . the virtuoso passage for trebles at Quoniam tu solus sanctus in the Gloria is particularly fun... There is a lightness of touch even when the mood is at its most forthright... This is not easy music to perform, but Jackson's varied and intelligent response to the text will reward the work of a committed choir. Recommended. * Huw Morgan, Church Music Quarterly, September 2007 *

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.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780193356191
ISBN 10	0193356198
Title	Edinburgh Mass
Author	Gabriel Jackson
Series	New Horizons
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Sheet music
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2006-08-31
Number of pages	20
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.