Jackson's musical voice is so bold and fresh that it is essentially his own. . . . He stands outside any mainstream . . . Jackson is his own man. One has only to hear the first few stanzas of Jackson's Stabat Mater to realise that we are being led into new paths and fresh insights. One of the most satisfying elements in his treatment of any text is that, though he may draw on a rich kaleidoscope of ideas and techniques, he always ensures that they are deeply relevant to the words that he sets, not purely gratuitous or decorative. The poem Stabat Mater dolorosa . . . is replete with angst, grief, yearning, anguish, and empathy . . . Jackson's great success is that he gives us these - the prolonged anguish and intermittent solace are both palpable â and yet he still manages to preserve an underlying consistency. He controls his material like a Renaissance master. It requires a fine art and meticulous skill to achieve that.

Autorentext
One of Britain's foremost composers, after three years as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, Gabriel Jackson went on to study composition with Richard Blackford and John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. Particularly acclaimed for his choral works, his liturgical pieces are in the repertoires of most of Britain's cathedral and collegiate choirs and he is a frequent collaborator with the leading professional groups of the world. From 2010-2013 he was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. In 2014 his hour-long The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned for the 750th anniversary of Merton College, Oxford, was premiered in its chapel. May 2015 saw the premiere at the Latvian National Opera of Spring Rounds for soprano, choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Riga-based youth choir Kamer for their 25th anniversary. He was recently commissioned by The Marian Consort to write Stabat Mater to mark their 10th anniversary.

Zusammenfassung
for SSSSAATTBB unaccompanied Commissioned by The Marian Consort in celebration of their 10th anniversary, and first performed in 2018, Jackson's is one of the most striking modern settings of this ancient text. With a rich scoring matching that of Scarlatti's setting of the same text, the composer's trademark diversity of texture is much in evidence. Passages of rich sonority give way to intimate soloistic sections, the lines spiced up by fiery rhythms and occasional arabesques and glissandi. The piece will be a very satisfying challenge for a proficient choir.