Gabriel Jackson - Nightingale Fragments

for SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied The text for this vibrant part-song is a deftly chosen selection of lines from Keats' Ode to a Nightingale. Premiered by the Vigala Singers in 2017, Jackson's setting features many of the composer's stylistic hallmarks: glissandi, decorative melismas, aleatoric patterns, and solo lines that float above the texture. Highly attractive and suitable for summer concerts.

My heart aches, and a

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains ... O for a draught of vintage! that hath been Cool’d a long age in the deep-delvèd earth ... O for a beaker full of the warm South! Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, And purple-stainèd mouth; That I might drink, and leave the world unseen ... Darkling I listen; and, for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Call’d him soft names in many a musèd rhyme, To take into the air my quiet breath; Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad In such an ecstasy! ... for online perusal only Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades ... Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—do I wake or sleep? John Keats (1795–1821) from Ode to a Nightingale Selected and edited by Simon Casimir Wilson I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks, your Loveliness and the hour of my death. O that I could have possession of them both in the same minute. John Keats, from a letter to Fanny Brawne Click here for more information

Commissioned by Simon Casimir Wilson in loving memory and eternal admiration of Alessandra Wilson (née Zerbino) (1943–2007) Nightingale Fragments John Keats (1795–1821) GABRIEL JACKSON SOPRANO ° 3 & # # 4 œ Slow q = c.54 f mp ˙ œ œ ˙ ‰ œ j # œ nœ œ œ 4 ˙ Œ My heart aches, my heart aches, ALTO 3 & # # 4 f œ ˙ œ # œ ˙ ‰ œ j œ j œ œ j œ 4 ˙ mp Œ My heart aches, my heart aches, TENOR f # 3 & # 4 œ ‹ My mp ˙ œ œ ˙ ‰ œ j # œ j n# œœ œ j œ 4 ˙ Œ heart aches, my heart aches, BASS f mp ?# 3 œ ˙ œ ¢ # œ ˙ 4 ‰ œ œ œ ˙ 4 ˙ J Œ My heart aches, my heart, 5 for online perusal only ° 3 & # # ∑ 4 ∑ ∑ p ˙ œ drow - - sy & # # p œ - and p # & # œœ - ‹ and œ œ œœ ‰ œ - œ 3 4 a drow - sy numb - ness œ ‰ œ - œ œ ‰ œ- 3 œ ‰ 4 œ - œ - œœ - œ œ œœ a drow - sy numb - ness ‰ œ- ‰ œ- œ œ œ ‰ œ - ‰ œœ - œœ ‰ Œ Œ œ ‰ Œ Œ p ?# ¢ # œ- œ and œ ‰ œ - œ œ ‰ 3 œ 4 - œ - œ œ ‰ œ- ‰ œ - œ a drow - sy numb - ness œ ‰ Œ Œ Duration: 10’ First performed by the Vigala Singers, directed by Joy Hill, at St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London on 30 October 2017 © Oxford University Press 2018 Printed in Great Britain OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, MUSIC DEPARTMENT, GREAT CLARENDON STREET, OXFORD OX2 6DP The Moral Rights of the Composer have been asserted. Photocopying this copyright material is ILLEGAL.