To coincide with the centenary of 100th anniversary of Kenneth Victor Jones's birth, Lyrita Records is releasing an album containing five première recordings on Friday 3 May 2024, performed by soloists from the London Mozart Players (SRCD 434).
Jones, who also composed a substantial catalogue of film scores, wrote music in neo-classical style: direct and energetic, he stretches the boundaries of tonality without breaking them. The language is familiar - Françaix and Shostakovich come to mind - engaging, playful and immediately graspable.
Kenneth V. Jones's “love of music began at the age of ten, when he started composing hymn tunes. He began his musical career as a chorister at St. Nicholas’s College of Church Music, Chislehurst, under Sir Sydney Nicholson, and received his first newspaper review in 1935 for his participation in a children’s opera by Nicholson.
The Times’ critic observed that ‘Master Kenneth Jones must be mentioned for his playing of the harpsichord at an age when most of us did not know there was any such thing’… In 1947 he enrolled at the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition, theory, piano, organ and conducting… In his final year, he won the Royal Philharmonic Prize for composition with his Concert Overture, premiered at the College in November 1950. Only eight years later, in 1958 he became Professor of Music at the Royal College of Music and was also appointed an examiner to the Associated Board.” © Paul Conway
London Mozart Players principal cellist Sebastian Comberti writes:
“My first encounter with Kenneth V. Jones was in 2016 when our family moved to the village of Bishop stone in the Sussex Downs. Over the course of several months, I was able to learn more of Kenneth’s musical life. As soon as he mentioned having once written a string quartet, it was decided to programme the work during the following Season of Seaford Music Society, of which Kenneth was a long-standing member and whose programming I had recently taken on. Such was the warmth of the reception upon hearing the work that it was decided to explore more of Kenneth’s chamber music output, and thus the idea for this album was born.
We have Kenneth to thank for the fact that the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music made the decision, at his suggestion, to include contemporary compositions in their graded examination syllabuses. Several of the short character pieces that Kenneth wrote for the ABRSM remain in the syllabus to this day, and a selection of these is included on this recording. It gave me huge pleasure to be able to present to Kenneth the first edit of the current album, just a few days before his death in December 2020. He was absolutely thrilled.”
The Times’ critic observed that ‘Master Kenneth Jones must be mentioned for his playing of the harpsichord at an age when most of us did not know there was any such thing’… In 1947 he enrolled at the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition, theory, piano, organ and conducting… In his final year, he won the Royal Philharmonic Prize for composition with his Concert Overture, premiered at the College in November 1950. Only eight years later, in 1958 he became Professor of Music at the Royal College of Music and was also appointed an examiner to the Associated Board.” © Paul Conway
London Mozart Players principal cellist Sebastian Comberti writes:
“My first encounter with Kenneth V. Jones was in 2016 when our family moved to the village of Bishop stone in the Sussex Downs. Over the course of several months, I was able to learn more of Kenneth’s musical life. As soon as he mentioned having once written a string quartet, it was decided to programme the work during the following Season of Seaford Music Society, of which Kenneth was a long-standing member and whose programming I had recently taken on. Such was the warmth of the reception upon hearing the work that it was decided to explore more of Kenneth’s chamber music output, and thus the idea for this album was born.
We have Kenneth to thank for the fact that the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music made the decision, at his suggestion, to include contemporary compositions in their graded examination syllabuses. Several of the short character pieces that Kenneth wrote for the ABRSM remain in the syllabus to this day, and a selection of these is included on this recording. It gave me huge pleasure to be able to present to Kenneth the first edit of the current album, just a few days before his death in December 2020. He was absolutely thrilled.”
Maureen Buja,Interlude, 10 June 2024
Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.
LYRITA PUBLISHING
Kenneth V. Jones: Sonata for Pianoforte | Wind Quintet No. 2 | Quinquifid (1980) | String Quartet (1950) | Piano Quintet (1967)
Sheet music for all the works on SRCD.434 awre also published as individual volumes by Lyrita Publishing on 3 May 2024 (SRMP 0164 - SRMP 0168).
Kenneth V. Jones: Sonata for Pianoforte | Wind Quintet No. 2 | Quinquifid (1980) | String Quartet (1950) | Piano Quintet (1967)
Sheet music for all the works on SRCD.434 awre also published as individual volumes by Lyrita Publishing on 3 May 2024 (SRMP 0164 - SRMP 0168).