JACKSON, William (1730-1803) - Songs & Canzonets

William Jackson [Jackson of Exeter] (Exeter, 29 de maig de 1730 - Exeter, 5 de juliol de 1803) va ser un organista i compositor anglès. Es va formar amb John Silvester, organista de la Catedral d'Exeter. A partir del 1748 va viure a Londres on va estudiar amb John Travers, organista de la Capella Reial. A l'entorn del 1767 va començar a escriure música de forma regular sent la primera partitura una adaptació musical de l'obra Lycidas de Milton la qual es va representar el 4 de novembre de 1767 en el Covent Garden i en motiu de la mort del príncep Edward, Duc de York. També a Londres va participar activament en la Madrigal Society. Al seu retorn a Exeter, va treballar com a professor fins el 1777, any que va ser nomenat organista i mestre del cor de la Catedral d'Exeter en substitució de Richard Langdon. Com a professor, va gaudir de notable fama amb alumnes com George Baker, William Bennet i John Davy. Com a compositor, va destacar amb les seves òperes The Lord of the Manor (1780) i Metamorphoses (1783) així com amb diverses odes i cançons. També va escriure nombrosos tractats musicals entre ells Observations on the Present State of Music in London (1791) i The Four Ages, together with Essays on Various Subjects (1798). William Jackson va morir a Exeter el juliol de 1803.


OBRA:

Vocal secular:

Stage:
all performed in London
Lycidas (afterpiece, 1, W. Jackson, after Milton), Covent Garden, 4 Nov 1767; music lost
The Lord of the Manor (comic op, 3, J.S. Burgoyne), Drury Lane, 27 Dec 1780; as op.12 (1781); many songs pubd singly
The Metamorphosis (comic op, 3, Jackson and R. Tickell), Drury Lane, 5 Dec 1783; as op.14 (1783)

Other secular:
op.
1Twelve Songs, 1v, 2 vn, [va], bc (c1755)
3[Invocation and 6] Elegies, 4vv, bc (c1760)
4Twelve Songs, 1v, 2 vn, [va, 2 hn], bc (c1765)
7Twelve Songs, 1v, 2 vn, [va, 2 fl, 2 hn], bc (c1770)
8An Ode to Fancy (Warton), S, T, 4vv, orch (c1770), incl. an ov.
9Twelve Canzonets, 2vv, bc (1770), the Linley edn (c1797) adds a canzonet no.13
11Six Quartets, 4vv, bc (c1775), arrs. of songs: 4 by Arne, 1 by Greene, 1 by Jackson
13A Second Set of Twelve Canzonets, 2vv, bc (c1782)
15Twelve Pastorals, 2vv, bc (1786)
16Twelve Songs, 1v, pf/str (c1790)
17Six Epigrams, 2–4vv, pf (c1795)
18Six Madrigals, 2–4vv, pf (c1798)

Numerous songs and canzonets from opp.1, 4, 7, 9, 13, 15 and 16, pubd singly and in 18th-century anthologies; other songs and partsongs in 18th-century anthologies
Queen of every moving measure, song, in W. Seward: Anecdotes of some Distinguished Persons, iv (London, 1796), 180–85

Vocal religiosa:

op.
5An Anthem selected from the Psalms [‘Hear me O God’] and an Ode written by Pope [‘A dying Christian to his Soul’], 4vv, 2 vn, va, bc (1766), the Ode scored for 4vv, bc
6[Twelve] Hymns, 3vv, bc (1768), also possible for 1v, bc
Anthems, services and hymn tunes in GB-EXc, Lbl, Lcm, some ed. J. Paddon, William Jackson: Anthems and Church Services (London, 1819)

Instrumental:

op.
[2]Six Sonatas, hpd, vn (c1757)
10Eight Sonatas, hpd, 2 vn, va, vc (c1773)
Concerto in 7 parts, str, c1749, cited in K. Mummery, Catalogue of Music N.S.11 (Bournemouth, 1957)
Fairy Fantasies, ?insts, mentioned by Burney and others, ?lost

Literatura:

Thirty Letters on Various Subjects (London, 1783, 3/1795); nos.8, 10, 17 with a brief memoir in The Harmonicon, viii (1830), 355–8
Observations on the Present State of Music in London (London, 1791); extracts in The Harmonicon, iv (1826), 46–7
‘Handel’, in W. Seward: Anecdotes of some Distinguished Persons, iv (London, 3/1796), 467 only
The Four Ages together with Essays on Various Subjects (London, 1798/R)
‘William Jackson of Exeter, Musician’, Leisure Hour, xxxi (1882), 273–8, 360–62, 433–6, 504–6, 569–71, 620–25, 718–20 [an autobiography, journal of the tour of 1785, essays on Gainsborough and Reynolds, letters from Gainsborough to Jackson; based on papers inherited by Jackson’s grandson]
?A First Book for Performers on Keyed Instruments [cited by early biographers as an anonymous work of Jackson but not authenticated]
Anonymous review of BurneyH, iii, iv in Critical Review, lxviii (1789), 94–103, lxx (1790), 618–32
‘A Short Sketch of my own Life’, Gainsborough's House Review (Sudbury, 1996–7), 57–113 [autobiography and tour notes from Jackson autograph MS, incl. reproductions of sketches made on the tour of 1785]
Other anonymous reviews and critical essays must exist but have so far not been identified

CPDL: No disponible