William Jackson (29 May 1730 – 5 July 1803), referred to as Jackson of Exeter, was an English organist and composer.
Life
Jackson was born and died in
Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the son of an Exeter grocer, who later became master of the city
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
. After receiving some musical instruction from John Silvester, organist of
Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...
, Jackson was sent in 1748 to London, to become a pupil of John Travers, organist to the Chapel Royal.
In 1767 Jackson wrote the music for an adaptation of Milton's ''
Lycidas
"Lycidas" () is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, ''Justa Edouardo King Naufrago'', dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a friend of Milton at Cambridge who drown ...
'', which was produced at
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
on 4 November of the same year, on the occasion of the death of
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, (Edward Augustus;In ''The London Gazette'', the Prince is called simply 'Prince Edward'16 November 1756
On his return to Exeter Jackson devoted himself to teaching music until Michaelmas 1777, when he was appointed subchanter, organist, lay vicar, and master of choristers to the cathedral, in succession to
Richard Langdon
Richard Langdon (1729 – 8 September 1803) was a British organist, mainly at Exeter Cathedral, where he spent his early years, and later at Bristol Cathedral and Armagh Cathedral. He also composed church music.
Early career
He was born in Exe ...
Jackson composed the operas ''The Lord of the Manor'' (1780, libretto by
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several batt ...
) and ''Metamorphoses'' (1783), as well as several odes (''Warton's Ode to Fancy'', ''Pope's The Dying Christian to His Soul'', and ''Lycidas'') and a large number of songs, canzonets,
madrigal
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...
s,
pastorals
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
,
hymns
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
,
anthems
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...
,
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 ''canta ...
for
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, and church services. His writings include ''30 Letters on Various Subjects'' (London, 1782), ''Observations on the Present State of Music in London'' (1791), and ''The Four Ages, together with Essays on Various Subjects'' (1798).