Francis JACKSON (b. 1917)
100+
The Archbishop’s Fanfare, Op 27 (1961) [1:05]
Organ Sonata No 6, Op 148 (2004) [16:31]
Scherzetto Pastorale, Op 20 (1955) [3:33]
Intrada (Daniel in Babylon), Op 84 No 7 (1962) [2:26]
Impromptu, Op 5 (1944) [6:55]
Diversion for Mixtures, Op 25 (1960) [4:00]
Fantasy on Sine Nomine, Op 60 No 5 (1984) [5:59]
Fantasy on East Acklam, Op 60 No 4 (1984) [4:17]
Organ Sonata No 5, Op 140 (2003) [22:50]
Mark Swinton (organ)
rec. April 2017, Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, UK
WILLOWHAYNE RECORDS WHR065 [67:06]
Francis Jackson has had a distinguished career as a composer and as a cathedral organist. He spent many years in the service of York Minster, where he was first a chorister and also an articled pupil of the Minster’s long-serving Organist and Master of the Music, Sir Edward Bairstow (1874-1946). Bairstow presided over the Minster’s music from 1913 until his death. Jackson had served as Organist of the parish church in his home town of Malton from 1933 until 1940. After war service he was appointed as Bairstow’s deputy early in 1946 but by then Bairstow was gravely ill and he died within weeks of Jackson taking up the post as his assistant – one of his first significant duties was to oversee the music for Bairstow’s funeral. After a suitable interval, Jackson was appointed to succeed Bairstow. Over the next 36 years Francis Jackson established himself as one of the UK’s leading – and most popular – cathedral organists. Retiring in 1986, he continued to give organ recitals all over the UK – and internationally – until he was 95. Retirement from York also gave him more time for composition and it will be noted that several of the works on Mark Swinton’s programme date from after 1982.
In 2013, four years before celebrating his centenary, Francis Jackson published a most interesting and engagingly modest autobiography to which he gave the witty title Music for a Long While. Mark Swinton cautions in the booklet that Jackson should not be pigeonholed as a composer confined to choral and organ music. The truth of this is confirmed by the list of compositions that Jackson included as an appendix to his autobiography. Stretching to 164 opus numbers, it includes orchestral works – one of which is a symphony (1957) – and chamber music. That said, the bulk of Jackson’s output does indeed consist of music for organ and for choir. For this CD, Mark Swinton, who first met Dr Jackson when he was reading music at York University – Jackson was one of his tutors - has assembled a nice selection from the substantial organ output.
I may be wrong but I have a feeling that this disc was originally recorded to celebrate Francis Jackson’s 100th birthday in 2017 and was released privately by Mark Swinton. If that’s the case I’m delighted that it has achieved the wider exposure of a commercial release through Willowhayne Records. Francis Jackson’s music quite frequently features in mixed programmes on disc. I know of two excellent CDs devoted to his choral music (review ~ review) but this is the first CD of his organ music that has come my way.
Mark Swinton includes the last two of Francis Jackson’s six organ sonatas on his programme. He points out in his booklet essay that, with one exception, all the sonatas were conceived with a particular organ in mind. The Sixth was written to celebrate the restoration of the Schulze organ in St Bartholomew’s Church, Armley, Leeds. (Jackson had earlier written his Third Sonata (1979) for the same instrument.) The sonata is in three movements. In the first, Molto moderato, Jackson makes interesting use of varied time signatures. The music always moves forward with purpose, and the tonal resources of the organ are well exploited. As we shall hear often in this programme, Jackson has a fondness for rich textures but his compositional skill and Mark Swinton’s expert organ playing ensure that muddiness is avoided. This opening movement builds to a majestic full-organ climax. Swinton aptly describes the main melodic idea of the Andante as “wistful”. The music describes something of an arch, growing in fullness but then falling back to the quiet ambience in which the movement began. An ebullient tarantella dominates the finale. This is a virtuoso piece which comes to an emphatic conclusion.
At the end of the programme, we find the Fifth Sonata. Mark Swinton tells us that this is the exception among Jackson’s sonatas in not being written specifically for a particular organ. Instead, it was written to mark the centenary of the organist-composer, Percy Whitlock (1903-1946). Mark Swinton tells us that Francis Jackson played a lot of Whitlock’s music over the years – in fact, I see that he played the organ part in a live 1999 recording of Whitlock’s Symphony in G minor for Orchestra and Organ, on a disc which also included Jackson’s own Organ Concerto (review). Mark Swinton’s notes helpfully explain some of the ways in which in this sonata Jackson paid homage to Whitlock’s own huge Sonata in C minor. Jackson cast his sonata in four movements. The first is purposeful throughout, even in the quieter stretches of music. The ‘Scherzetto’ is full of bubbling energy while the ‘Canzona’ is founded on an extended melody which Jackson builds incrementally to a noble central climax. Once that climax is spent the music recedes back to the quiet vein in which the movement began. The finale is initially robust, though after a while (1:41) the chorale-like second subject provides contrast; this is founded on a quotation from another of Whitlock’s organ pieces. In the spirited last two or three minutes, Jackson revisits material both from earlier in the movement and from elsewhere in the sonata before bringing the work to an imposing end.
The shorter pieces are all very interesting. The very brief Archbishop’s Fanfare was composed for the enthronement of Dr Donald Coggan as Archbishop of York in 1961. The piece is suitably celebratory and it allows the Warwick organ to make an exciting first impression. It’s an ideal programme opener. Later, I was intrigued by the tempo marking for the Intrada. This is a revised version of music excerpted from a larger work, Daniel in Babylon (1962). Originally, the music served as the introduction to Scene IV of the larger work, which tells of Belshazzar’s Feast. Wittily, Jackson gave the Intrada the tempo marking Allegro moderato waltonamente and he does indeed pay small homages to Walton during its course.
Impromptu was the first of Jackson’s pieces to achieve publication. It was written as a tribute to Bairstow on his 70th birthday. I think it’s an impressive piece, both in the way that the material is handled and the way the organ is exploited. Two of Jackson’s Five Preludes on English Hymn Tunes, Op 60 are included. They’re both excellent – and varied – examples of the genre. The Fantasy on Sine Nomine takes Vaughan Williams’ superb tune (‘For all the saints’). The music is full of tantalising hints at the tune until the melody is first heard in full (1:39). After more exploration of the tune’s possibilities it returns, grandly, on the pedals (3:45). Jackson’s Fantasy s a splendid short adventure in company with this memorable tune. Fantasy on East Acklam is based on a tune by Jackson himself which, over the years, has come to serve two hymns. If I’m not mistaken the tune is named after the North Yorkshire village where Jackson made his home in retirement. This excellent tune is presented in the tenor and the Fantasy is a fine meditation on it.
This is a very rewarding disc. Mark Swinton is a highly accomplished organist and he gives excellent performance of music that clearly means a lot to him. He’s chosen a perceptively varied programme too. To add to our pleasure, he has provided an excellent and thorough booklet essay. The Nicholson organ in St Mary’s Church, Warwick sounds very handsome indeed. After nearly a decade as Assistant Director of Music at the church, Swinton clearly knows the instrument intimately and he gets the best out of it. Paul Arden-Taylor’s engineering presents both music and organ to best advantage.
Some years ago Francis Jackson recorded four CDs of his own organ music for Priory Records which have now been gathered together as a boxed set (PRCD930). However, anyone wanting to become acquainted with Jackson’s organ output will find this Willowhayne disc an ideal starting point. It’s a handsome tribute to Francis Jackson.
John Quinn
