Leslie Jones (23 November 1905 – 18 October 1982) was a British

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

.Roger Wimbush: "Leslie Jones". ''

The Gramophone ''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was a ...

'', November 1965, p. 236

Early career

Jones played saxhorn in the local Salvation Army band in his home town. At age eleven, he became an organist and learned to play trombone. He took music lessons from the composer Theophilus Hemmings, and eventually became a Trinity's Licentiate (LTCL), an Associate of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO), and an Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM). Jones also studied law, became a solicitor, and set up his own practice which he ran for thirty years. Before World War II, Jones formed the

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

String Orchestra (today ''Newcastle Strings'') and after the war he founded the

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

Symphony Orchestra. Later, he created his own ''Leslie Jones Orchestra'', led by Martin Milner, a leader of The Hallé Orchestra, using professionals and qualified students. This orchestra gave more than two dozens of concerts each year.Leslie Jones Jnr: "Jones the podium." ''

Classic Record Collector ''Classical Recordings Quarterly'' (formerly ''Classic Record Collector'') was a quarterly British magazine devoted to vintage recordings of classical music, across the range of instrumental recordings, chamber music, orchestral, vocal and opera. ...

'', Winter 2005

The Little Orchestra of London

After having retired from the law practice, Jones moved south, and could devote more time to music. In 1957, he created ''The Little Orchestra of London''. The name was suggested by Jones' son, Leslie Jnr, as a counterpart to Thomas Scherman's

Little Orchestra Society :''Not to be confused by The Little Orchestra of London'' The Little Orchestra Society is an American orchestra based at 630 9th Avenue, Suite 807 in New York City. It was founded in 1947 by Thomas Scherman, who served as its conductor until his ...

in New York. The players came from the London "pool", which consisted of prominent orchestral musicians – James Galway,

Alan Loveday Alan Raymond Loveday (29 February 1928 – 12 April 2016) was a New Zealand violinist. A child prodigy, he became leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a soloist and leader with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He was a professo ...

and Derek Wickens, to mention a few.

Richard Freed Richard Donald Freed (December 27, 1928 – January 1, 2022) was an American music critic, program annotator and administrator. He was noted for the concert program notes he authored for various orchestras and ensembles in the US. Early life F ...

: "Just another Haydn Jones." ''Classic Record Collector'', Winter 2005Antony Hodgson: "Mystery of The Drummer." ''Classic Record Collector'', Winter 2005

Raymond Cohen Raymond HyamHis middle name has alternately been given as 'Hyam' (''Telegraph'' obituary) or 'Hyman' (''Independent'' obituary). Cohen (27 July 1919 – London, 28 January 2011) was an English classical violinist. Biography Early life and ed ...

led the orchestra in the early days, and in later years the leader was William Armon.Antony Hodgson: Liner notes. The Leslie Jones Collection I–II, 2019. Occasionally the orchestra played at open concerts, but the main purpose seems to have been to do gramophone recordings. Jones was at the forefront of the movement to reduce the size of Haydn orchestras, and usually directed himself from the keyboard. Being an early advocate of period performance practice, he recorded

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's "Paris" and "London" symphonies. He recorded about fifty of Haydn's symphonies. The interpretations of the late symphonies of Haydn were very 'classical' for the period of their performance. The early recordings were released on Pye Records. From 1966 Jones started to record for Nonesuch Records,Roger Wimbush: "Here and There". The Gramophone, November 1966, p. 254 while it seems that after 1969 he recorded mostly with Oryx records.

Discography

Pye recordings

*Antonín Dvořák, Peter Tchaikovsky: String serenades, Pye Golden Guinea Collector Series (1964) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 19, 31, 45. Pye (1964). Reissued as Nonesuch H-71031. *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 44, 49, Ouverture Armida. Pye Golden Guinea Collector Series GSGC 14006 (1964). Reissued as Nonesuch H-71032. *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 12, 26, 83. Pye (1965), reissued as Nonesuch H-71083. *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 6, 13, 64. Pye Golden Guinea Records (1965) *Alan Rawsthorne, Lennox Berkeley, Peter Racine Fricker: Concerto for String Orchestra; Serenade for Strings; Prelude, Elegy and Finale. Pye Golden Guinea Records (1965) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 43, 45, 80. Pye Golden Guinea Records GGC 4046 (1965) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 3, 39, 73. PRT GSGC 7055 (1965) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 34, 54, 75. Pye Golden Guinea Collector Series (1966). Reissued as Nonesuch H-71106. *Michael Haydn: Symphonies in G, P.16 and A, P.31; Violin Concerto A. Pye Golden Guinea Records GGC 14131 (1970) *Alan Rawsthorne: Concerto for String Orchestra; Piano Quintet; Sonata for Cello and Piano. Pye PRT GSGC 7060 (1985)

Nonesuch recordings

*Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 77, 61. Nonesuch H-71168 (1967) *Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Four Orchestral Works, Wq 183. Nonesuch H-71180 (1967) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 100, 103. Nonesuch Checkmate C 76002 (1967) *Johann Christian Bach: Sinfonias, Op. 18, Nos 3 & 5; Sinfonia Concertante C. Nonesuch H-71165 (1968) *Joseph Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ, orchestral version. Nonesuch H-71154 (1969) *Joseph Haydn: The six "Paris" Symphonies. Nonesuch HC-73011 (published 1967) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 44, 49, Armida ouverture. Nonesuch H-71032 (before 1969) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 13, 29, 64. Nonesuch H-71121 (before 1969) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 35, 43, 80. Nonesuch H-71131 (before 1969) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 90, 91. Nonesuch H-71191 (announced in the 1969–1970 Nonesuch Supplement) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 63, 78, Overture to an English Opera. Nonesuch H-71197 (announced in the 1969–1970 Nonesuch Supplement) *Joseph Haydn: The 12 London Symphonies. (6 LP box) Nonesuch HF-73019 (announced in the 1969–1970 Nonesuch Supplement)

Oryx and other labels

*Joseph Haydn: Six Divertimenti, Op. 31. Oryx 1740 (1969) *Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonies 1 & 8. Unicorn Records UNS 200 (1969) *Scandinavian String Music (Grieg, Nielsen, Sibelius). Unicorn Records UNS 201 (1969) *John Stanley: 6 concertos, Op. 2. Peica (1970) *Joseph Haydn: Symphonies 101, 104. Oryx ORPS 18, remake (1972) *J. S. Bach: Violin Concerto; Harpsichord concertos BWV 1052 & 1056. Harold Lester, William Armon. Basic Record Library BRL 7 (1972) *G. F. Handel: The Water Music (complete). Oryx ORPS-15 (1972) *G. F. Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks, Concerto a due cori F. Basic Record Library; Oryx ORPS 16 (1973) *W. A. Mozart: Clarinet and Oboe Concertos.

Thea King Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM (26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) was a British clarinettist. Biography Early life Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of his family engineer ...

, Derek Wickens. Sequence SEQ 22103 and Oryx ORPS 21 (1973) *Louis Spohr, J. H. Hummel: Notturno C, Op. 34; Octet – Partita. Oryx 1830 (1973)

Heritage Records (rereleases on CD)

*The Leslie Jones Collection Vol. I (Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart) 4 CDs, HTGCD 404 *The Leslie Jones Collection Vol. II (Mozart, Hummel, Spohr, Beethoven, Dvorak) 3 CDs, HTGCD 303

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Leslie English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 1905 births 1982 deaths 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians English classical organists 20th-century English lawyers Associates of the Royal College of Organists British male organists Male classical organists