A Tribute To The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
(10 Piece Brass)
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Programme; Six Dances From 'The Danserye' - Susato arr Iverson (13min) Battle Suite (quintet) - Scheidt (8min) Sonata Pian' e Forte (octet) - Gabrieli (4min) Divertimento Op.49 (sextet) - Salzedo (6min) Symphony for Brass - Jan Koetsier (15min) INTERVAL Four Brass Cats - Hazell (13min) Londonderry Air - Trad arr Iverson (4min) A Londoner In New York - Parker (18min) |
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Philip Jones is often referrd to as the Godfather of modern brass chamber music. He was born in Bath in 1928 and in 1944 won a scholarship to study trumpet at the Royal College of Music. He became principal trumpet for most major London orchestras The Royal Philharmonic (1956-60), the Philharmonia (1960-64), the Philharmonic (1964-65), the New Philharmonia (1965-67) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1967-71).In 1951 he formed the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, one of the first brass ensembles working regularly as a stable group. They grew from four members to ten and larger for special projects. The most usual formations were the quintet (two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba) and the ten-piece (four trumpeters, horn, four trombones and tuba). The success of these formations owes much to Philip Jones' work. |
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After 1971 he devoted himself to the ensemble full-time and the group commanded long commitment from many fine players including the trumpeters Elgar Howarth, Michael Laird and James Watson; horn players Ivor James and Frank Lloyd trombonists John Iveson and Ray Premru and the renowned tubist John Fletcher. They made 50 recordings and toured over 30 countries finding particular popularity in Japan. Repertoire spanned from transcriptions of early music by the likes of, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Johann Pezel, to new works for the medium commissioned by Jones. These included pieces by Witold Lutoslawski, and Jan Koetsier. Altogether they performed 87 world premieres. The ensemble's leader was noted for his meticulous preparations at every concert, lining up the music stands himself, his personal commitment being one of the reasons for the ensemble's success.
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In 1986 Jones accidentally drove his car over his own trumpet case. He took this as the hand of fate and decided to retire from concert performances. He held posts at the Royal Northern College Of Music and Trinity College Of Music, where he was Principal until his retirement in 1994. He was chairman of the Musicians Benevolent Fund in 1995. He was awarded the OBE in 1977 and the CBE in 1986. |
(Please note, the above is a library recording included for reference only and does not feature Chameleon Brass)