|
|
 |
Gabriel Jackson Interview
Posted on 16 September 2004. © Copyright 2004-2024
Composition:Today
|
C:T talks to composer Gabriel Jackson
 |
|
Photograph: Richard Ardus
| Tell us something about your background.
I was born in Bermuda in 1962 where my father was a clergyman at Bermuda cathedral. When I was three years old we returned to England. My father had been quite an accomplished pianist when he was young and while he hadn't really kept up his piano-playing he was, and is, a very passionate and knowledgeable music-lover, with a huge record/CD collection, a very glitzy hi-fi system and wide-ranging musical interests and enthusiasms. So I heard and got to know an awful lot of music in my early years..
When I was eight years old I started at the Choir School at Canterbury Cathedral and a year or so later joined the cathedral choir as a treble. The life of a cathedral chorister is very demanding - before a day of school we would have an hour-long choir practice, after school there was another choir practice followed by Evensong, and after supper homework and instrumental practice; we had one day off a week but also sang Evensong on Saturday and two, sometimes three, services on a Sunday. But it was also great fun and very exciting, particularly in a very busy place like Canterbury where there were always lots of special services, radio and television broadcasts and recordings. We had to stay on after the school term finished until Christmas day for instance, and also at Easter, but that was fun, and singing in a packed cathedral for those special events was always thrilling. It is a fantastic musical education - you are singing great music everyday to a very high standard; you have to be very professional all the time, and you develop fantastic aural and sight-reading skills. We were particularly fortunate in my time at Canterbury to have Allan Wicks as Organist and Master of the Choristers - he was a hugely charismatic and inspirational musician and he remains the single most important influence on my musical life. He was also very committed to contemporary music so we sang a lot of contemporary music including things like the Tippett Canticles which were still fairly new in those days.
In my teens I studied composition at the Royal College of Music Junior Department with Richard Blackford and after that with John Lambert at the RCM proper.
How did you start composing?
This sounds a bit silly but I actually started writing notes on staves before I could actually read music properly. I must have been fascinated by how music looked and it was quite an interesting experimental process, drawing these notes on manuscript paper and then discovering, by having someone play me what I'd written down, and hearing what it sounded like. More or less as soon as I started piano lessons (I can't remember how old I was) and could read music I started composing little piecs, this time with some actual sense of what I was doing!
Who or what has influenced your style?
One very important influence is Mediaeval and Renaissance music, particularly late 15th and 16th-century English music. Formative musical experiences are hugely important, I think, and of course the core of our repertoire at Canterbury was Tudor music. Stravinsky has also been hugely important in many different ways - the idea that music is about other music, the use of block structures, without development or transitions, his particular understanding of the unique character of each instrument and the actual sound of the music. I am also a huge Tippett afficianado - the greatest English composer since the death of Byrd - his work has such generosity of spirit and an ecstatic quality that is very special. Among more recent figures minimalist and post-minimalist composers, be they 'holy like Part, Gorecki and Tavener (particularly Gorecki, a much more substantial figure than some would have us believe) or more 'pure' like Steve Reich and Philip Glass have been very important. Also the wonderful Australians Ross Edwards and Peter Sculthorpe.
I think my teacher John Lambert, who was the doyen of British composition teachers - he had taught Ollie Knussen, Simon Bainbridge, Jonathan Lloyd, Mark Turnage and many others - was also very important, although I'm not sure he would have approved of how I've turned out! But he always valued clarity of expression and a certain cleanness is something I always try to to acheive.
Another, quite different, influence is Soul and RnB - not in the sense of attempting any kind of 'crossover' or imatating the music in any way, but the sense of ecstatic communion one gets from the greatest singers, and the frequent use in Soul music of saturated diatonic chords, particularly when voiced by a group of singers, has been very influential. My use of evolving melodies over a harmonic and rhythmic ostinato owes as much to the way the singer's semi-improvised vocal line rides the groove in RnB as to minimalist techniques.
How did you get your first commission?
I had numerous requests for pieces throughout my teens and I even got paid a small amount for a piece once but my first proper commission, properly paid, after I left college, was for a piece for piano and percussion in 1984. I don't think I did anythng to actively get it - I was lucky enough to be offered the commission by Timothy Salter, who'd been my supervisor at college. And the pianist in the first performance was Thalia Myers, who has become a great friend and collaborator, so that was nice.
Where do your ideas come from?
Now there's a question! Literally, I don't know. The needs of the project, from other music sometimes, from visual art (I often derive structures and other material from artworks), the text (in vocal and choral pieces), things like that.
Do you have particular techniques - one's you come back to again and again? Tell us a bit about them.
Isorhythm (or my own form of it) where the same material is repeated with different pitches but the same rhythm is something I use a lt. My pieces are all tonal, but that's not really a technique is it? Abrupt editing between one section of material and another. Evolving melodies over harmonic/rhythmic ostinatos; ornate melodies over drones - do these count as techniques?
What's the worst thing about composing?
It's not well enough paid. And it's difficult!
And the best?
A fantastic feeling where everything goes right. The reaction of audiences members when a piece has really affected them. The sense, on occasion, that you've done a good job and the piece really works.
What inspires you to write?
The commission! The circumstances of the first perforamnce - the venue, the rest of the programme etc., a particular perrformer or ensemble (especially if I already know them and enjoy working with them), the text (in a vocal piece, the prospect of payment!
What advice would you give to a young composer just starting out?
Write what you want to write - don't worry about trying to please or impress others. Cultivate performers who you want to work with and who are interested in what you're doing. Don't worry about what other people are doing - concentrate on what you're doing and try and write the best music you can. Be very professional in your presentation of scores and parts - if they're full of mistakes or hard to read you will alienate the players. And be nice to performers you are working with - learn from their experience in practical matters, and be prepared to change things if you've misjudged something and it doesn't work.
Do you have a routine? A place that's special
No.
Do you do other work as well as composing?
Not really. I pretty much compose full time, which I'm very lucky to be able to do, but it doesn't mean writing a huge amount of music each year in order to make it pay.
BMIC Biography
Gabriel's scores on BMIC
Interview by Composition:Today © Copyright 2004-2024
 Comments by other Members
| |
Posted by :
 jamseales0 at 05:56 on 22 December 2020
|
Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post. 보증업체 | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 14:25 on 25 December 2020
|
I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work آدرس جدید سایت گاد بت | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 09:01 on 12 January 2021
|
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. 먹튀검증사이트 | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 09:23 on 19 January 2021
|
I am thankful to you for sharing this plethora of useful information. I found this resource utmost beneficial for me. Thanks a lot for hard work. สมัคร slot เครดิตฟรี แค่ยืนยันตน | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 10:43 on 23 January 2021
|
I was surfing net and fortunately came across this site and found very interesting stuff here. Its really fun to read. I enjoyed a lot. Thanks for sharing this wonderful information. 먹튀 | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 11:51 on 18 May 2021
|
Your work here on this blog has been top notch from day 1. You've been continously providing amazing articles for us all to read and I just hope that you keep it going on in the future as well. Cheers! Ensite Vascular | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 12:09 on 19 May 2021
|
pleasant post, stay aware of this fascinating work. It truly regards realize that this subject is being secured likewise on this site so cheers for setting aside time to talk about this! https://freshbros.com/delta-8-gummies | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 13:16 on 19 May 2021
|
Your article is extremely helpful exceptionally fascinating subject i am looking that sort of post thank for imparting to us keep it up. สล็อตjoker
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 08:10 on 20 May 2021
|
Great job here on. I read a lot of blog posts, but I never heard a topic like this. I Love this topic you made about the blogger's bucket list. Very resourceful. who is Dr. Natale | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 11:24 on 23 May 2021
|
Hi there! Nice post! Please tell us when I will see a follow up! Fresh Bros Hemp
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 13:25 on 23 May 2021
|
Your post is very helpful to get some effective tips to reduce weight properly. You have shared various nice photos of the same. I would like to thank you for sharing these tips. Surely I will try this at home. Keep updating more simple tips like this. Maven CEO | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 12:35 on 26 May 2021
|
An fascinating discussion is value comment. I think that it is best to write extra on this matter, it won’t be a taboo topic however generally people are not enough to talk on such topics. To the next. Cheers 엠카지노
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 08:30 on 27 May 2021
|
This blog is really great. The information here will surely be of some help to me. Thanks!. delta 8 cbd gummies
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 15:09 on 28 May 2021
|
We will display the most comprehensive products at the most affordable price, give the most intimate after-sales service, and give you the most enjoyable shopping experience in Taiwan. So, choose RELX e-cigarette, don't hesitate, press add to shopping cart, and place an order for your upcoming fashion and pleasure! 菸彈 | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 13:39 on 29 May 2021
|
Extremely helpful post. This is my first time i visit here. I discovered such a large number of intriguing stuff in your blog particularly its exchange. Truly its extraordinary article. Keep it up. sauna | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 06:46 on 01 June 2021
|
I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work Credit Planned | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 12:50 on 03 June 2021
|
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info. Thanks for the post. I’ll definitely return. Window Installation Companies | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 13:11 on 07 June 2021
|
You can also attach any notes, textbook copies, or your research data while placing an order.free porn pictures This will help the writer to personalize the paper to your writing style. | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 18:38 on 09 June 2021
|
What is the safest prescription aphrodisiac, Cialis? Granville Steel? Or Le Wei Zhuang? Some drugs are not for the liver and kidneys... 犀利士 || 犀利士vs威而鋼vs樂威壯vsStendra | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 19:36 on 12 June 2021
|
Great things you’ve always shared with us. Just keep writing this kind of posts.The time which was wasted in traveling for tuition now it can be used for studies.Thanks more info
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 19:52 on 14 June 2021
|
Great things you’ve always shared with us. Just keep writing this kind of posts.The time which was wasted in traveling for tuition now it can be used for studies.Thanks merchant processing iso program
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 19:04 on 17 June 2021
|
Great things you’ve always shared with us. Just keep writing this kind of posts.The time which was wasted in traveling for tuition now it can be used for studies.Thanks squid jig
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 17:06 on 20 June 2021
|
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info. North American Bancard ISO Program
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 17:27 on 23 June 2021
|
Please continue this great work and I look forward to more of your awesome blog posts. yocan uni pro
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 17:07 on 25 June 2021
|
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. This is very nice one and gives indepth information. Thanks for this nice article. สล็อตออนไลน์
| |
|
Posted by :
jamsebond0 at 19:33 on 01 July 2021
|
Kostenlose Inserate im Marktplatz Österreich aufgeben. Kaufen oder Verkaufen sie alles auf dem Verticken Marktplatz über kostenlose Kleinanzeigen Kostenlose Immobilienanzeige | |
|
|
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 13:29 on 15 July 2021
|
I know your expertise on this. I must say we should have an online discussion on this. Writing only comments will close the discussion straight away! And will restrict the benefits from this information. 먹튀검증
| |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 08:51 on 31 July 2021
|
You delivered such an impressive piece to read, giving every subject enlightenment for us to gain information. Thanks for sharing such information with us due to which my several concepts have been cleared. 먹튀사이트 | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 09:34 on 16 August 2021
|
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often. สล็อตออนไลน์ | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 14:15 on 05 September 2021
|
Great job for publishing such a beneficial web site. Your web log isn’t only useful but it is additionally really creative too. ดูหนังออนไลน์ฟรี | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 12:07 on 17 November 2021
|
Thanks for Nice and Informative Post. This article is really contains lot more information about This Topic. dubai desert safari | |
|
|
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 06:25 on 27 November 2021
|
Paragontraders is the go-to asset marketplace for everyone, helping to create wealth and joy in life for a global society. We strive towards being the most accessible marketplace while holding ourselves to the highest regulatory standards. paragon traders | |
|
Posted by :
jamseales0 at 16:30 on 17 April 2022
|
These elements have manifold Advantages for most who ingest them regularly. website
| |
To post comments you need to become a member. If you are already a member, please log in .
 
| |
|
