Francis Alan Jackson (2 October 1917 – 10 January 2022) was a British organist and composer who served as Director of Music at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

for 36 years, from 1946 to 1982.Dr Francis Jackson CBE, Organist Emeritus dies aged 104
York Minster. Retrieved 12 January 2022."'Legendary' York Minster organist Francis Jackson dies aged 104"
''The York Press'', 11 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

Personal life and family

Born in Malton,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, Jackson was the son of William Altham Jackson (1888-1944), an engineer and sanitary inspector, and Eveline May Suddaby (1889-1974), who both sang in the local church choir.Legendary organist born in Malton dies aged 104
''Gazette & Herald'', 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022. He was a first cousin once removed of the lyric soprano

Elsie Suddaby Elsie Suddaby (1893 - 1980) was a British lyric soprano during the years between World War I and World War II. She was born in Leeds, a first cousin once removed to the organist and composer, Francis Jackson. A pupil of Sir Edward Bairstow, she ...

, who, like him, studied with Sir Edward Bairstow. Jackson married Priscilla Procter, who died in 2013 at the age of 95. They had three children: Alice, William and Edward. He turned 100 in October 2017, and the occasion was marked by a special concert during that year's Ryedale Festival. He died on 10 January 2022 at the age of 104. His last visit to York Minster was in 2021, to see the newly-restored organ following its £2 million refurbishment.

Career and legacy

York Minster Choir, Nth Yorkshire, UK - Diliff

Jackson had been a chorister at St Michael's Church, Malton, along with his brother Paul, until he joined the choir of York Minister in 1929, where he sang under Sir Edward Bairstow for four years, after which he returned to Malton to serve as organist at St Michael's from 1933 to 1940. He studied at Durham University and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) in 1937, winning the Limpus Prize. After active service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he returned to York Minster in 1946 to become Organist and Director of Music, succeeding Bairstow. He held this post for 36 years. After his retirement in 1982, he was appointed Organist Emeritus. In 1961 Jackson played for the wedding of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's cousin,

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II and Edward were first cousins through their fathers, King George VI, and Prince George, Duke ...

, to Katherine Worsley. The final voluntary was the Toccata from Widor's '' Symphony for Organ No. 5'', which set the fashion for the use of this piece for weddings. From 1972 to 1974 he served as President of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

. He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) for services to music in 1978 and a Commander (CBE) in 2007. He was also recognised with many academic degrees and awards throughout his lifetime. After his retirement, Jackson and his wife retired to the

Ryedale Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inh ...

village of Acklam, where they had bought a house in 1954, and for many years he gave recitals in the surrounding area. Jackson was the mentor of Oscar-winning film composer John Barry.

Compositions and recordings

Jackson gave recitals and concerts all over the world and made numerous recordings of solo organ music and of choral music with the choir of York Minster. His extensive output of sacred and secular music includes

canticles A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Catholic Church ...

, anthems,

hymn tunes A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

(including the widely sung "East Acklam"), organ

sonatas Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

and other organ pieces such as "Diversion for Mixtures", but his 164 opus numbers range well beyond choral and solo organ music. There are two acclaimed monodramas – ''Daniel in Babylon'' and ''A Time of Fire'' - as well as the overture ''Brigantia'', an organ concerto (1985), a symphony (1957), chamber music and solo songs. Jackson's creative output continued after his retirement. He recorded four CDs of his own organ music for Priory Records, and the organ concerto in 1999. Two CDs of his choral works have also be published.

Writing

Jackson was the author of a biography of his teacher, mentor and predecessor,

Sir Edward Bairstow Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition. Life and career Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...

, entitled ''Blessed City: The Life and Works of Sir Edward C. Bairstow''. His autobiography, ''Music For A Long While'', was published in 2013.

Key events

*1929-1933: Chorister at York Minster under Edward Bairstow *1933-1940: Organist of Malton Parish Church *1937: Gained FRCO with the Limpus Prize *1946-1982: Organist of York Minster *1957: Gained DMus Durham University *1970: Became Fellow of

Westminster Choir College , mottoeng = Let us be judged by our deeds , established = 1926 , type = Private , president = Gregory G. Dell'Omo , dean = Marshall Onofrio , city = Dayton, OH (1926–1929), Ithaca, NY (1929–1932), Princeton, NJ (1932–2020), Lawrenc ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

*1972-1974: President of the

*1978: Appointed OBE for services to music. *1982: On retiring from York Minster in 1982 he received the Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music, the Doctorate of the University of York and, at the hands of the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, Lord Blanch, the Order of Saint William of York. *2007: Promoted to

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the Queen's birthday honours for services to music. *2012: Received the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

of DMus (Cantuar) from Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of Canterbury awards Lambeth degrees
Archbishopofcanterbury.org, 16 October 2012. *2012: Awarded the inaugural Medal of the

"for organ playing, organ and choral composition, and choral conducting." *2020: Honorary Fellow of the

Burgon Society :''Not be confused with the Dean Burgon Society, concerned with the advocacy of the King James Bible'' The Burgon Society is a learned society and educational charity for the study and research of academic dress. The society was founded in 2000 ...

References

External links

Francis Jackson in conversation
with

Simon Lindley Simon Lindley (born 10 October 1948) is an English organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He was Leeds City Organist from 1976 to 2017 (named City Organist Emeritus in Summer 2017) and is Organist Emeritus of Leeds Minster, having been o ...

Francis Jackson compositions at Banks Music

Obituary: Daily Telegraph 15 Jan 22
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Francis 1917 births 2022 deaths People from Malton, North Yorkshire 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century organists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century organists British male organists Cathedral organists Classical composers of church music Composers for pipe organ English classical composers English classical organists English male classical composers Alumni of Durham University Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Organists Recipients of the Medal of the Royal College of Organists Holders of a Lambeth degree British centenarians Men centenarians Male classical organists