Philip Jones (trumpeter)

Philip Jones (born March 12, 1928 in Bath ; died January 17, 2000 ) was a British trumpeter and founder of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble named after him .

Life

Grave, Friedental Cemetery, City of Lucerne . Round mosaic by Hans Erni

Philip Jones was born in Bath, England. He developed his musical skills at a young age. Jones was born into a family of trumpeters; his grandfather and father were famous trumpeters. He was determined to prove that brass instruments could captivate and fascinate audiences.

In 1944 he got a scholarship to the Royal College of Music . After completing his studies, he was a trumpeter in the leading London orchestras: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1956–60), Philharmonia Orchestra (1960–64), London Philharmonic Orchestra (1964–65), New Philharmonia Orchestra (1965–67) and BBC Symphony Orchestra (1967-71).

In 1951 he founded the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (PJBE), one of the first brass ensembles. The ensemble grew from five to ten members. After 1971 he devoted himself entirely to the ensemble. He has recorded more than 50 records with the PJBE and toured in over 30 countries around the world - including Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia. Jones was famous for his meticulous preparation of every performance down to the smallest detail. While the other musicians went out to eat before the performance, he wanted to stay alone on stage and carefully position all the music stands and chairs. The ensemble was famous for performing choral works by Monteverdi and Handel . You were one of the first to revisit the works of Giovanni Gabrieli for brass instruments. Jones commissioned Hans Werner Henze and other contemporary composers to write new works for this line-up. The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble gave a total of 87 world premieres.

In 1986 he accidentally drove his car over his own trumpet case. He took this incident as fate and decided to withdraw from concert appearances. He devoted more of his energy to training young musicians and began his second career as a music teacher. In 1988 he was appointed director of the Trinity College of Music in London - an institution in decline. He promoted this school until its reputation was on par with that of the Royal Academy of Music or the Royal College of Music . He retired from this post in 1994. In 1995 he was chairman of the Musician Benevolent Fund. In 1977 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and in 1986 the highest honor as Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE .

When not working, he spent his time in London and Switzerland, the home of his wife Ursula Strebi.

literature

• Heinz Stalder : The thousand lives of Ursula Jones. Between Lucerne and London, music and archeology . Zurich: NZZ Libro, 2017

Web links

• Philip Jones International website
• Christopher Mowat: Philip Jones. Gifted trumpeter who opened the world of chamber music to brass instruments , obituary, in: The Guardian, January 19, 2000