Robert Frederick Jones
Robert Frederick Jones was born in 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He lives in Canada since 1972. During his scholarly years in New England, he studied mainly piano and clarinet, but also composition with Daniel Pinkham, Robert Cogan, George Perle and Seymour Shifrin. He received several awards and grants for his compositions, namely the Samuel Wechsler Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music from the Brandeis University in 1970. He composed numerous works for diverse ensembles, ranging from multi-media, orchestra, chamber, solo, voice, choir to electroacoustic. His works have been played in Canada, the United States, England, France, Greece, Yougoslavia, Norway, the Netherlands and India. Besides his activity as a performer, he teaches at Vanier College (Montréal) since 1976.

For him, composition is a means of communication. He describes his method of composition as follows: "When I start a piece I usually begin with concrete musical ideas -- not necessarily ideas for the opening of a piece. I then take these bits as starting points for continuations. I usually do a lot of rapid sketching at this point, trying to work out the lines of development. The large-scale form arises from the nature of the materials. My criteria for what works come from my instincts; I have faith that if I find a piece musically convincing it must necessarily be structurally sound." About his aesthetic, he confess that it "has always had strong affinities with the Romantic". However, he sees himself "as an individual, not as a representative of a current.".

A composer, pianist, conductor, and pedagogue, he has taught at McGill and Mount Allison Universities. He has composed more that sixty works for a great variety of performing media. His "Mass" for children's voices and organ has been performed at Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral; in 1993 and1996, his "Sangeet" for voice and piano was performed in Argentina and Brazil on concert tours by Meg Sheppard and alcides lanza. Dr Jones is also organist and music director at St Columba's Anglican Church in Montreal.
Catalog of Compositions
Orchestral Music Chamber Music Keyboard Solo Guitar Vocal Music Choral Music Electroacoustic Music


Orchestral Music

Symphony (1995) 18 min.
Chamber orchestra.Commissioned by the New Tunes Ensemble.Premiered July 6, 1995, Music Gallery, Toronto. New Tunes Ensemble, Robert Jones, cond.

 Chamber Music

The Aviary of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (1986) 12 min.
Flute and guitar.Commissioned by Jill Rothberg and Antonio Battista.Premiered September 22, 1986, University of Winnipeg (CBC broadcast concert). Jill Rothberg, flute, and Antonio Battista, guitar.

Chorale Preludes for trombone and piano (1989) 8 min.
Trombone and piano.Commissioned by David MartiN. Premiered January 30, 1989, University of Western Ontario, LondoN. David Martin, trombone, and Robert Jones, piano.

Five Uneasy Pieces (1972) 15 min.
Clarinet, bassoon, violin, cello and piano.Commissioned by Paros Chamber Ensemble, Paros, Greece.

Flute Quartet (1988) 16 min. Flute quartet.Commissioned by Linos Quartet, Montréal.Premiered July 1988, Festival d'Été du Québec, Québec. Linos Quartet, flutes.

Herzliebster Jesu (1989) 15 min.
Chorale fantasy for clarinet, cello and piano.Commissioned by Manfred Trio.Premiered January 11, 1990, National Gallery, Ottawa (CBC broadcast concert). Manfred Trio, clarinet, cello and piano.

Labyrinths (1985) 10 min.
Clarinet, viola, cello, trombone and piano.Commissioned by Ross Edwards and David Martin.

Second Dembo (1971) 7 min.
Flute and piano.Commissioned by Robert Stallman. Premiered May 21, 1971, Waltham, Mass. Robert Stallman, flute, and Robert Jones, piano.

Six Nocturnes (1986) 24 min.
2 pianos and percussioN. Premiered November 11, 1986, Montréal. Alcides Lanza and Robert Jones, pianos, with McGill Percussion Ensemble.

St Patrick Sonata for 4 trumpets and organ (1993) 15 min.
4 trumpets and orgaN. Commissioned by St Patrick's Basilica, Montréal.

String Quartet (1969) 17 min.
String Quartet.Premiered May 3, 1970, Waltham, Mass. Brandeis University Faculty String Quartet.

String Trio (1967) 8 min.
String Trio.Premiered December 15, 1968, Brandeis University. Robert Koff, violin, Eugene Lehner, viola, Madeleine Foley, cello.

The Titanic Sails at Dawn (1999)
For viola and piano. First performance: Linda Umbrico (viola) and Robert Frederick Jones (piano), cond. and org. , 8 June 1997.

Two Night-Pieces (1978) 15 min.
Flute, clarinet, guitar, percussion and piano.Commissioned by the Aquila Ensemble, Montréal.Premiered April 1979, Vanier College, Montréal. Aquila Ensemble, Robert Jones, cond.

 Keyboard Music

Livre d'orgue I (1993) 18 min.
Solo orgaN. Commissioned by St Matthias' Church, Westmount, Québec.Premiered October 24, 1993, 20th anniversary of St Matthias' Church's orgaN. Michael Capon, orgaN.

Livre d'orgue II (1994) 10 min.
Solo orgaN. Commissioned by Michael CapoN. Pre
miered May 10, 1994, St Matthias' Church, Westmount. Michael Capon, orgaN.
Pietà, piano sonata in 3 movements (1984) 24 min. Commissioned by Tom Plaunt.Premiered December 13, 1984, Montréal. Tom Plaunt, piano.

Three Piano Pieces (1967-69) 10 min.
1- The Texture of Time (1967); 2- Fisches Nachtgesang (1969); Dembo(1969).Solo piano.No. 1 premiered February 14, 1969, New England Conservatory, BostoN. Robert Jones, piano.No. 3, commissioned by Craig Smith for the premiered in fall 1969, Massachusetts Council of Arts and Humanities Music Festival. Craig Smith, piano.Nos. 1-3, premiered February 24, 1975, McGill University, Montréal. Pamela Jones, piano.

 Solo Guitar

Drylands Op. 57 (1997) ?? min.
Four desert scenes for solo guitar. Commissioned by and dedicated to Patrick Kearney. Premiered October 15, 1997, St. James Club, Montréal. Patrick Kearney, guitar.

Vocal Music

5 Songs for soprano and piano (1966) 10 min.
(Text: anonymous German lyrics).Voice and piano.Premiered August 2, 1967, Tanglewood Music Festival, Lennoxville, Mass. Melinda Kessler, soprano, and Henry Mollicone, piano.

From the Diaries of Emily Carr (1984) 20 min.
Soprano and piano with string quartet (or string orchestra).Commissioned by Margo MacKinnoN. Premiered May 1985, Concordia University, Montréal (version for soprano and piano). Margo MacKinnon, soprano, and Robert Jones, piano.

Sangeet (1990) 18 min.
Sacred concert for voice and piano.Commissioned by Meg Sheppard and Alcides Lanza.Premiered April 24, 1990, Montréal (CBC broadcast on "Two New Hours", summer 1990). Meg Sheppard, voice, and Alcides Lanza, piano.

Tam O'Shanter (1974) 17 min.
Baritone voice (singing and speaking) and chamber orchestra.

 Choral Music

Ecce sacerdos magnus(1997)
For mixed choir and organ. Composed for the ordination of Linda Borden Taylor. First performance: Choir of Church of St-Columba, Montreal, Robert Jones, cond. ad org. , 8 June 1997

Evening Office for the Dead, to the memory of the victims of the École Polytechnique (6 December 1989) (1991) 20 min.
Three choirs.

Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (1990) 8 min.
Choir and orgaN. Commissioned by Vanier College.

Mass for treble voices and organ (1987) 23 min.
Children choir and orgaN. Commissioned by the Children's Choir of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montréal.Premiered May 1, 1989, Second Biennial Canadian Children's Choirs in Concert Festival (Television documentary featuring work: "Sing!", CBC Arts, 1990). 450 children from 8 choirs cond. by Wayne Riddell, Hélène Panneton, orgaN.

Missa in Adventis (1996)
For unison voices and organ. First performance: Choir of Church of St-Columba, Montreal, Robert Jones, cond. ad org. , 1 Dec. 1996.

Proverb and Prayer (1994)
Mixed choir and orgaN. Commissioned by the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City, New York.Premiered September 13, 1994, Garden City, New York. Massed choirs from 8 churches and synagogues, Robert Ludwig, cond.

The Purple Cow and Other Mad Wriggles (1978) 7 min.
Mixed choir and piano, 4 hands.Commissioned by Vanier College.Premiered August 18, 1978, 13th Conference of the International Society for Music Education, London, Ontario. Vanier College Madrigal Ensemble, Jean Sult, cond.

Le retour du soldat (1981) 10 min.
Mixed choir a capella.

The Sleeping Lord (1983) 17 min.
Bass solo, male choir, woodwinds, percussion, piano and electronic sounds.Commissioned by Vanier College. Tape part realized at McGill Electronic Music Studio.

 Electroacoustic Music

seinnyessit e gledyf im penn mameu (1980) 10 min.
2 pianos and electronic sounds.Commissioned by McGill Electronic Music Studio.Premiered March 1981, Montréal. Alcides Lanza and Robert Jones, pianos.

Step Forward and Toll this Bell for Peace (1989) 22 min.
Chamber orchestra with electronic sounds and audience participation. Premiered February 28, 1989, Montréal. McGill University Contemporary Music Orchestra, Robert Jones, cond.

 

Orchestral Music Chamber Music Keyboard Solo Guitar Vocal Music Choral Music Electroacoustic Music
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