Sidney Jones

James Sidney Jones (born June 17, 1861 in Islington , now part of London , † January 29, 1946 ibid) was a British composer and conductor .

Life

The family moved to Leeds when Jones was young because the boy's father was appointed musical director of the Grand Theater there. After graduating, Jones joined his father's orchestra as a clarinetist. Then he worked as a military bandmaster . In 1886 the actress and producer Kate Sandley hired him as a conductor for her musical stage work "Vetah". He then worked for Henry Leslie's traveling theater for four years and then for other touring theaters that took him to America and even Australia. His first attempts as a composer also fall during this period. He wrote the music for the pantomime "Aladdin II", which - back in Great Britain - premiered in Leeds in 1889.

Around 1890 Jones met the journalist Jimmy Davis. He wrote libretti for revues, comic operas and operettas under the pseudonym Owen Hall. Their first joint play was "A Gaiety Girl" (1893), which set the standard for popular musical theater in England. The highlight of their collaboration, however, was the operetta "Die Geisha", a piece that has been translated into many languages ​​and made Jones' name known far beyond his homeland. The composer was only able to build on the great success of this masterpiece to some extent with his operetta "My Lady Molly", which appeared in 1902.

Musical stage works (selection)

• 1889: Aladdin II
• 1892: Our Family Legend
• 1893: Don Yuan
• 1893: A Gaiety Girl
• 1894: To artist's model
• 1896: The Geisha , German: Die Geisha
• 1898: A Greek Slave
• 1899: San Toy
• 1902: My Lady Molly
• 1903: The Medal and the Maid
• 1906: See See
• 1908: King of Cadonia
• 1913: The Girl from Utah
• 1916: The Happy Day