Philip Jones (12 March 1928 – 17 January 2000) was a British trumpeter and leader of an internationally famous brass chamber music ensemble. Philip Jones was born in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, England. In 1944 he won a scholarship to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. He became principal trumpet for most major London orchestras: The

Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

(1956–60), the Philharmonia (1960–64), the Philharmonic (1964–65), the New Philharmonia (1965–67) and the

BBC Symphony The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

(1967–71). His playing continues a line of English trumpeters that stretches back to Ernest Hall. In 1951 he had formed the

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It toured and recorded exte ...

, 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 one sometimes doubling piccolo trumpet and one sometimes doubling flugel horn, horn, four trombones and tuba). The success of these formations owes much to Philip Jones's work.Philip Jones CBE 1928 - 2000
''www.stjohnswoodmemories.org.uk'', accessed 2 April 2021 After 1971 he devoted himself to it full-time and the group commanded long commitment from many fine players including: the trumpeters

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, John Wilbraham, Michael Laird and James Watson; horn players Ifor James and Frank Lloyd; trombonists John Iveson and

Raymond Premru Raymond Eugene Premru (June 6, 1934 – May 8, 1998) was an American trombonist, composer, and teacher who spent most of his career in London, England. Life and career The son of a Methodist minister, Premru was born in Elmira, New York and gre ...

; 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

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, and Johann Pezel, to new works for the medium commissioned by Jones. These included pieces by

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...

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and

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; 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. In 1986 he 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 The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

(the institution's first head of brass)School of Wind, Brass and Percussion
''www.rncm.ac.uk'', accessed 2 April 2021 and

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1986. When not at work he divided his time between

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and London.

References

External links

An interview with Philip Jones recorded in 1992
- a British Library sound recording {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Philip 1928 births 2000 deaths English classical trumpeters Male trumpeters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the Royal College of Music Musicians from Bath, Somerset Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century British male musicians