'Patrick’s installation not only highlighted the breadth of the collections of the Rylands, but synthesised them in harmonious fashion, with Victorian birdsong, the sounds of the BBC radiophonic workshop, and the voices of medieval Europe all blending seamlessly together beneath the echoes of galactic nuclei spiralling into space.'

Jacob Thompson, Rylands Blog

'verbinden sich dabei dustere und dramatische Momente derart phanomenal, dass man sich zu der Frage hinreissen lasst: Hort sich so das Nirwana an?' / TRANS: 'dark and dramatic moments combine in such a phenomenal way that one lets oneself be carried away with the question: 'Is this what nirvana sounds like?'

Oliver Steinke, Die Rheinpfalz

‘Tentative gestures involving flutter-tonguing on flute and clarinet – a sound once banished as a cliché but which here sounded remarkably fresh – built tension slowly. In the foreground all seemed swirling movement; in the background were subtly varied chordal patterns, surging like the sea’s swell. Once again, abstract process joined hands with the evocation of natural process’

Ivan Hewitt, Philharmonia Blog

‘In such lofty company it would have been easy for the work of a young composer to be overshadowed, but Jones is clearly far too able and imaginative a composer to allow that to happen. Described as a descent in to and out of a bizarre musical ‘landscape’, the piece suggested certain affinities with the music of Harrison Birtwistle in its juxtaposition of musical blocks. However the comparison was not unflattering, as both the materials and the form were assured and compelling.’

James Moriarty, Bachtrack

'an intricate, nervy dance that slips constantly between the playful and sinister with deadpan wit...This commendable release is a welcome introduction to a terrific new wave of composing talent.’

BBC Music Magazine

'Spectacular Jones, Graceful Nielsen...the lunchtime concert really came to life with the OPUS2014 winner, Patrick John Jones’s Uncanny Vale, a new work for wind quintet, which explored harmonic and timbral possibilities in a pioneering way. Creating a strange, eerie atmosphere, the work was altogether more expressive than Berkeley or Seeger, and really captured the audience’s imagination, exploring ideas of fantasy and the mind.'

Carl Wikeley, Britten Sinfonia Blog

‘The other new piece on the bill, Unfurl, by Patrick John Jones, was more arresting, with an acerbic clarinet seeping across a bed of strings like a dark stain’

Alfred Hickling, The Guardian

'Uncanny Vale is a compact work that combines long melodic lines with energetic outbursts. The piece is a lively and engaging conversation for 5: whirlwinds alternate with lyrical passages, in which the individual players take the lead in turn. The jury was impressed by the excellent – often virtuosic and detailed – instrumental writing.'

Jury of the Calefax Composers Competition