Reviews of Compositions by Jackson Hill
"Jackson
Hill's Japanese-inspired "Voices of Autumn" drew some of the
evening's longest applause--after the audience sat in silence when the work was
finished, perhaps taking it all in. Elegant in its simplicity--the work draws
from Japanese traditional music and chant--the result was a gorgeous
soundscape, [Chanticleer's] voices fusing together like watercolors."
---The Cincinnati Enquirer
"Another piece
representing a different culture was Hill's "Voices of Autumn," which
the composer constructed using techniques of Japanese classical music;
Chanticleer made it seem timelessly beautiful."
---The Boston Globe
"Most
intriguing was "Voices of Autumn," a mesmerizing echo of Japanese
court music and Buddhist chant by ethnomusicologist Jackson Hill. With unisons
to provide a pulsing, shimmering sonic backdrop, the barest of rhythmic figures
and ornamentation created a beguilingly placid soundscape. The effect was so
calming as to conceal the difficulty of such a piece and the level of control
it entails."
---The Portland Oregonian
"One of the
many discoveries here is Jackson Hill's "Voices of Autumn," a 1982
composition that sets a ninth-century Japanese poem in music of remarkable
stillness and austerity…."
---Fanfare
"Jackson
Hill's" Voices of Autumn" was all glowing harmony."
---The New York Times
"…Impressive
and innovative as these pieces were, they were not as compelling as Jackson Hill's
"In Winter’s Keeping," a 2001 setting of a seventh-century Japanese
poem using pentatonic harmonies and Japanese tunings."
---Monterey (California) Herald
"…two
hauntingly lovely pieces by contemporary composer Jackson Hill introduced music
inspired by Japanese Buddhism, "Voices of Autumn" and "In
Winter's Keeping.""
---San Francisco Classical Voice
"logically
compact... A piece that is tightly knit and makes good sense from beginning to
end... It contains genuine emotion rather than relying solely on 'effect' for
impact as so many others do."
---Washington, The Evening Star
"ably used the
instruments of the ensemble in great variety with an occasional touch of
humor."
---The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Impressive
and scholarly."
---The Greensboro Daily News
"an impressive
handling of massed forces."
---Philadelphia, The Evening Bulletin
"the most
communicative work of the concert... an indescribably evocative work that makes
the solo performer a medium both musical and metaphysical."
---Musical America
"exceptionally
interesting both for the composer's interpretation of the search for the
legendary sacred vessel, and also for the stylish manner in which the orchestra
attained the significantly demanding range of dynamics and control... It is a
mystic and difficult work."
---The Cape Cod Times
"Spacious
voicings, fine craftsmanship, and a well-balanced mixture of dissonance and
melody..."
---Keyboard
"a very fine,
exciting and challenging contemporary work... beautiful changes in vocal
textures and harmonies, and the organ accompaniment is especially dynamic...
The overall rhythmic excitement, coupled with stunning contrasts in harmonies
and organ... makes this work outstanding."
---The Choral Journal
"Hill's music,
with its rumbling piano and soulful wooden flute, is shimmering and
haunting."
---The Pittsburgh Press
"a delicate
piece of night-music, as understated as a Japanese print."
---The Cincinnati Post
"Any fine a
cappella choir would take great delight in performing this sensitively written
work."
---The Choral Journal
"An excellent Missa Brevis... beautifully written... with
lovely, unexpected harmonies."
---The American Organist
"It opens
interestingly and effectively with a deeply felt Kyrie. There is a
jubilant Gloria... [The Agnus Dei ] has a particularly thoughtful
and meditative final cadence."
---The Musical Times (UK)
"Spare and
haunting--almost medieval in flavor... very devotional in nature, as befits the
text."
---The American Organist
"Jackson
Hill's gorgeous Love Is Life glows with intensity."
---American Record Guide
"I was
especially moved by the performance of Jackson Hill's Love Is Life, a
setting of a medieval poem by Richard Rolle (c. 1325). Hill creates a
distinctive choral sonority, beginning each phrase with chantlike
unisons that expand into pointed major or minor seconds and then open into
fully extended harmonies. The archaic mysticism and sensuality of the poem are
perfectly captured in this evocative setting for unaccompanied choir."
---Choral Journal
"A moving
opus."
---The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"a mysterious
journey through Japanese and Western devices, with their contrasting scales and
spiritual personalities. This lovely amalgam is particularly striking in its
extremes, from bright bell sounds to the eerie declamations of the alto flute,
English horn, and bass clarinet."
---The Pittsburgh Press
"Superbly shaped
performance... in which the voices swooped and slid around sustained pitches
like swallows in play."
---The Independent (London)
"a setting of
a ninth-century Japanese text which consists essentially of delicate
micro-inflections... such space-creating poignancy is what minimalism should be
all about, but too rarely is."
---The Times (London)
"Spare,
contemplative and quite beautiful...."
---Nightly Planet, Radio National (Australia)