JACKSON Nicholas Sir
Music for Trumpets and Organ
Sonata da Chiesa*; Organ Mass; Suite from The Reluctant
Highwayman*;
Organ Sonata; Prelude, Fugue, Soliloquy and Caprice*;
Concert Variations on Praise to the Lord, the Almighty; Elevation
and Toccata (from Four Images); Toccata in G minor; A Flourish
for Rosemary*; Wedding March.
* Pieces for trumpet(s) and organ, recorded in St John the Evangelist, Islington
(September, 1999). The pieces for organ alone were recorded in Chartres Cathedral
(October, 1999).
Nicholas Jackson (organ)
Maurice Murphy and Rod Franks (trumpet)
Naxos 8.554773
[76:34]
Crotchet
Amazon UK
AmazonUS
Born in 1934, Sir Nicholas Jackson enjoys the distinction (unique, so far
as I know) of having been the only baronet in the last century to occupy
the post of a cathedral organist (he was at St David's Cathedral from 1977
to 1984). I've often wondered what happened to him subsequently: my guess
is that he gave up his cathedral post to devote himself to composition and
recital work. It's a fair guess also that he took up residence in France,
for reasons which will become apparent.
Originally destined to become an architect, Jackson was a relatively late
developer in music: he did not take up the piano until he was 14, or composition
until he was 30. From his father he inherited a great love of French music,
and the influences on his compositions are overwhelmingly French - notably
Messiaen, Tournemire, Langlais and Dupré. Indeed, without knowing
otherwise, the listener to this music could well be forgiven for assuming
that the composer was a Frenchman.
In the opening Sonata da Chiesa, for instance, the influence of Dupré
is evident in the canonic devices employed. In the more reflective pieces,
the improvisational style of Tournemire is recalled, and over everything
hovers the harmonic language of Messiaen. Nevertheless it would be quite
wrong to suggest that Jackson's music is merely derivative. He has a distinctive
voice of his own, nowhere more so than in his brilliantly idiomatic writing
for the trumpet.
His dazzling variations on Praise to the Lord, the Almighty constitute
a marvellously inventive tour de force (though Jackson cheerfully
confesses that Variations VII and VIII 'don't quite work'!). But Jackson
is also devoted to the music of the eighteenth century, and The Reluctant
Highwayman Suite (which was to form the basis of an opera of that name,
first performed in 1995) is a delicious fusion of baroque and contemporary
French styles (incidentally, it would make a splendid work for brass band).
The two wedding pieces with which the disc ends can be warmly recommended
to any adventurous couple (and organist) looking for alternatives to Mendelssohn,
Wagner et al. My one criticism would be that he is over-fond of the
French toccata formula, which appears several times on this disc and falls
prey to repetitiveness.
Jackson is a superb interpreter of his own music, and is well served by the
distinguished principal trumpeters of the LSO. The sound of both organs and
trumpets is faithfully captured. The instrument at Chartres in particular
is of course ideally suited to Jackson's music, though I find the sound of
the full organ disagreeably dense and bloated.
Adrian Smith
Performance
Sound
