This is the second CD that Naxos has devoted to the music of
Nicholas Jackson. There’s also a disc on which he plays his own organ
music in Chartres Cathedral and is joined by two trumpeters in pieces for
trumpet(s) and organ (8.554773). I’ve not heard that one but the list
of contents includes the Elevation and Toccata for solo organ.
These, I presume, are the same pieces that frame the Mass for a
Saint’s Day on the present release: they come from a suite
entitled Four Images, the composer tells us in his note. That earlier
disc also includes Jackson’s Organ Mass which he arranged from
some of the movements of his Missa cum Jubilo; we shall encounter
that Mass, in a slightly different guise, on this present disc.
Nicholas Jackson, a composition pupil of both Edmund Rubbra and John
Gardner, has had a very busy career as a performing musician besides his
work as a composer. His performing career included spells as organist of two
London churches before he served as Organist and Master of the Choristers at
St. David’s Cathedral in Wales (1977-84). The present programme
illustrates the work of a skilled and imaginative composer and also one with
a very practical knowledge of church music. Though the pieces are
recognisably of and firmly rooted in the English choral tradition the
writing for organ, both as a solo or accompanying instrument, often shows a
marked Gallic influence.
The disc includes two quite substantial pieces. The Mass for a
Saint’s Day was Jackson’s first choral work. As I indicated
earlier, the Mass is prefaced here by theElevation for solo organ
while the Toccata rounds off the proceedings in great style. I liked
this English Mass setting very much. Of particular note is the Credo in
which a slower, pensive middle section, beginning at “Who for us men
and for our salvation”, is framed by confident, energetic outer
panels. The Agnus Dei is suitably reflective. The Gloria, like
the Credo, has a calm, prayerful central section but a driving,
exciting toccata-like organ accompaniment underpins the extrovert outer
stretches. The Toccata itself is a thrilling appendage to the Mass.
It’s splendid stuff, very French in character, and it’s
thrillingly dispatched by Jeremy Filsell. Congratulations also to the
engineers who have recorded the Eton College Chapel organ resplendently.
The Requiem is an enlargement of Jackson’s 1976 Missa cum
Jubilo. Thirty years later the composer added four more movements:
Introit, Pie Jesu, Libera me and In Paradisum.
The result is what strikes me as a slightly odd hybrid. For one thing most
of the setting is in English but, with the exception of the Introit,
the four added movements are in Latin. Then the setting retains the
Gloria and Credo. So far as I’m aware the Gloria
is neither sung nor recited at a Requiem Mass and though the
Creed may be recited I’ve not come across a musical setting of
the Mass for the Dead that includes it. The Requiem concludes
with an organ solo, Carillon, which is based on thematic material
from the Kyrie. It’s a very exciting, virtuoso piece - and
David Goode gives a stunning account of it - but it seems oddly out of place
in the context of a Requiem, especially when the In Paradisum
has provided a serene conclusion. My advice would be to hit the pause button
beforeCarillon begins and then enjoy it separately after letting the
Requiem settle for a few moments. Perhaps the answer is to be found
on the composer’s website where I see that the four 2006 movements,
which are published separately, are described as a ‘Supplement to
Missa cum Jubilo’. In his notes that accompany this disc
Nicholas Jackson tells us that “much of the work incorporates
plainsong themes, as are heard in the works of Duruflé”. I
didn’t detect that the plainsong is as close to the surface as it is
in the French composer’s own masterly Requiem but it’s
there all right and the organ part is certainly indebted to the French
school, and none the worse for that. The Requiem contains some fine
music, including a lovely Pie Jesu - for soprano solo, beautifully
sung here - a fluid Benedictus and a gently luminous Agnus
Dei. Jackson also follows Duruflé in eschewing what I might term
the “fire and brimstone” aspect of the Mass for the Dead.
The short works include Behold a Great Priest. This is a
forthright and exciting opening to the programme and the organ part is
superb. There are two settings of the Evening Canticles, both dating
from 1975. The Lydian Mode setting is described as for solo soprano and
organ though I wonder if it could also be performed by unison trebles. This
is an attractive set of canticles and Laura Oldfield makes a very fine job
of the solo part. The other set of canticles is a choral setting, written
for Canterbury Cathedral during the time that Alan Wicks was Master of the
Music there. The Magnificat is arresting; it’s big stuff. The
Nunc Dimittis, which includes a significant tenor solo, is more
relaxed. The Te Deum and Jubilate stemmed from a Welsh Arts Council
commission and were first performed at St David’s in 1984, presumably
as Jackson’s time as Organist there drew to a close. The Te
Deum is as succinct as it’s impressive though I thought the ending
was a bit abrupt.
All of this music was new to me but I’ve enjoyed making its
acquaintance and found it rewarding. My appreciation of it was enhanced by
the standard of the performances. The Rodolfus Choir has long been
recognised as one of the finest ensembles of young singers in the UK and,
arguably, in the world. Under Ralph Allwood’s direction the technical
standards are amazingly high and the performances are committed and assured.
All the soloists acquit themselves very well. It is, to say the least, a
considerable bonus to have two of Britain’s finest organists on hand
to do justice to Jackson’s demanding and imaginative writing for the
organ.
The recorded sound is excellent and the composer’s own notes
are helpful.
Nicholas Jackson’s liturgical music is impressive and
it’s been splendidly served here.
John Quinn
See also review by Robert
Hugill
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Laura Oldfield (soprano); Emily Beahan (soprano); Peter Davoren (tenor);
Francis
Williams (tenor); Henry Jones (alto); David de Winter (tenor); Julian
Debreuil
(bass); David Goode (organ); Jeremy Filsell (organ)