{"id":15,"date":"2010-10-18T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2010-10-18T10:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/?p=15"},"modified":"2010-10-18T15:52:22","modified_gmt":"2010-10-18T15:52:22","slug":"masses-of-colour-jackson-and-skempton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/2010\/10\/18\/masses-of-colour-jackson-and-skempton\/","title":{"rendered":"Masses of colour: Jackson and Skempton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two pieces lie at the heart of this year\u2019s repertoire, and at the second rehearsal last week we looked at both: the wonderful colour of Gabriel Jackson\u2019s <\/a>Edinburgh Mass <\/em>and The Cloths of Heaven<\/a><\/em> by a composer who will come as no surprise to anyone who sang with the Chamber Choir two years ago: Howard Skempton. Skempton arrived onto the scene with almost majestic grandeur when his orchestral piece Lento<\/a><\/em> was premiered at the\u00a0Barbican in 1991 (repeated at this year’s BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra\u00a0under Ilan Volkov<\/a>), and his choral piece shows the same effect of \u2018profundity through simplicity.\u2019 The Chamber Choir has previously sung\u00a0his motet Beati quorum via<\/em>, and the Cecilian Choir sang the Ave virgo sanctissima <\/em>and <\/a>Locus iste<\/a>; <\/em>I\u2019m delighted to be able to continue our exploration of Skempton repertoire this year. \u00a0He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven<\/em> features Skempton\u2019s trademark simplicity of musical language that nevertheless is deeply moving. Fabulous rich harmonies clothe (no pun intended) W.B Yeat\u2019s evocative poem.<\/p>\n

\"Jackson

Published by OUP: the Edinburgh Mass<\/p><\/div>\n

Gabriel Jackson\u2019s Edinburgh Mass<\/em> occupies a similar musical landscape to the Mass in G<\/em> by Poulenc, and the Gloria<\/a> <\/em>begins with a terrifically affirmative gesture before a more contemplative passage for the text \u2018et in terra pax hominibus.\u2019 For me, this piece is like a stained-glass window: lit from behind, it glows with fantastic colour. The Gloria<\/em>, sees rippling descending quavers passing downwards through the voices, like the pealing of bells, creating a wonderful shimmering texture. More about these two\u00a0wonderfully evocative pieces as we work through them\u00a0over the course of this term\u2026<\/p>\n

For the Advent concert, we started the antiphonal Hymn to the Virgin<\/a><\/em> by Britten, a traditional seasonal favourite, written when Britten was just seventeen: it already shows a mature command of musical gesture, an assured harmonic palette and a quiet authority for such a youthful work.<\/p>\n

About to begin on here is ‘Not drowning but waving.’ a regular column looking at aspects of the choral conductor’s art: expect the first article later this week.<\/p>\n