BIOGRAPHY

Patrick John Jones is a London-based composer and sound designer. His music is most often performed in concert halls and occasionally in museums, art galleries, and libraries. It has been described as ‘strange, eerie…expressive’ (Britten Sinfonia Blog), ‘assured…compelling’ (Bachtrack), ‘acerbic’ (The Guardian) and ‘remarkably fresh’ (The Philharmonia Blog).

His work has been performed by artists and ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Ensemble 10/10, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Quatuor Diotima, Mahan Esfahani, The Kreutzer Quartet, Octandre, Psappha, the Tritium Trio, the Berkeley Ensemble, and the Ulysses Ensemble. 

 

He was a joint winner of the Calefax Composers Competition in 2020, received the RPS Composition Prize in 2015, and the Britten Sinfonia’s OPUS award in 2014

 

Patrick recently completed a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at Guildhall School of Music & Drama (2021-2024), a project that involved collaborations with St Paul’s Cathedral, The John Rylands Library, and Octandre Ensemble. He undertook a PhD in Composition from 2013-2017 at the University of York, supervised by Dr Thomas Simaku and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research CouncilPrior to this, he took an MMus in composition at Kings College London (2012) and a BA (Hons) in Music at the University of York (2010). He has taken part in a number of courses and summer schools for emerging composers, including the advanced composition course at Dartington Summer School (2019), taught by Harrison Birtwistle, the Britten-Pears Composition Course (2017), taught by Colin Matthews, Michael Gandolfi, and Oliver Knussen, and the Philharmonia Academy (2015-16), mentored by Unsuk Chin.

PRESS & TESTIMONIALS

MUSIC

IMMENSE BLEAK ELECTRIC ADVERTISEMENT OF GOD

16 players & fixed media

20′

2024

fl(=picc & alto).ob.cl.bsn(=cbsn) – perc(2) – pno(=cel) – hp – str: 1.1.1.1.1

Immense Bleak Electric Advertisement of God has not yet been publicly performed, but was workshopped by Octandre Ensemble with the help of artistic directors Jon Hargreaves and Christian Mason and the musicians listed below.

 

Recording

From a workshop by Octandre Ensemble, Milton Court Concert Hall, September 2024

 

Musicians

Flute: Noemi Gyori
Oboe: Anna Durance
Clarinet: Adam Slater
Bassoon: Patrick Bolton

Horn: Julian Faultless
Trumpet: Shane Brennan
Trombone: Raph Clarkson

Percussion 1: Calum Huggan
Percussion 2: Angela Wai Nok Hui

Harp: Anneke Hodnett

Piano: Jo Havlat

Vn I: Mandhira de Saram
Vn II: Rosie Kennally
Va: Chihiro Ono
Vc: Corentin Chassard
Cb: Rosie Moon

SONILLUMINATIONS

sound installation

17′

2024

Sonilluminations was a sound installation hosted by the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester, in July 2024.

 

The music draws from the eclectic collections held by the library, including their ornithological illustrations, medieval manuscripts, Jodrell Bank observatory records, broadside ballads, and Delia Derbyshire papers.

UNCANNY VALE

reed quintet

10′

2020

oboe (=cor anglais), clarinet (=clarinet in E), soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon

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.

– Calefax Composers Competition jury

Joint winner of the Calefax Composers Competition 2020

Recording

Studio recording by the Calefax Reed Quintet, May 2021

Image

An unattributed example of a 17th century anthropogenic landscape from the Flemish school

DUO TRIO

violin & cello

3′

2019

RECORDING

Live recording from world premiere

 

PERFORMANCES

10.07.2019Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham (WORLD PREMIERE)

THE VANITY OF SMALL DIFFERENCES

violin & cello

5′

2018

The three-minute version above was written and filmed on Psappha’s ‘Composing for…’ scheme in Spring 2018.

 

A revised five-minute version was prepared for a concert performance later in the year.  

 
PERFORMANCES

15/11/2018Psappha, St. Michael’s, Manchester (WORLD PREMIERE)

SONG OF A RED SPRITE

symphony orchestra

5′

2022

3(2=alto.3=picc). 3(3=ca). 3.3(3=cbsn) – 4.3.3.1 – timp.perc(2) – pno (=cel) – hp – str: 14.12.10.8.6

Recording available on request

Composed for the London Symphony Orchestra as part of the LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme 2020-22

 
PROGRAMME NOTE

A red sprite is a rare optical phenomenon of the upper atmosphere associated with thunderstorms. Alien in appearance, red sprites are the product of lightning-like electrical discharges and appear in flashes up to fifty miles above the earth in the startling forms of glowing crimson jellyfish or jagged, branching figures. Although something like them has been reported for centuries, sprites were only formally discovered in 1989. They have since been observed many times, from the ground, from aeroplanes and from the International Space Station.

 

Appropriately for their ethereal, supernatural appearance, sprites are named after the elf-like creatures of European mythology (such as Ariel or Puck), and in his Song of a Red Sprite Patrick John Jones gives voice to the atmospheric sprite who hovers in the sky, materialising occasionally to survey the storms below. The work begins ‘nocturnal with heavy air and electrical crackle’ as clouds of string and wind air sounds billow around a portentously descending chromatic bassline. Cutting across this thunderhead are jagged, pointillistic countermelodies, an irregular rhythmic ostinato and atmospheric shivers and sizzles. As these move around at unexpected speeds and across a wide instrumental palette the sprite may be heard to flash and flicker in hidden corners of the orchestra’s sonority.

 

– Tim Rutherford-Johnson

ROPES OF MAUI

symphony orchestra

7′

2015

1(picc). 2.3.3.2.1(cbsn) – 4.3.3.1 – perc(4) – pno – cel – hp – str: 14.12.10.8.6 

Composed on receipt of the University of York’s Sir Jack Lyons Celebration Award, which funded the commission and a residency at the Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada

 

Performances

28/11/2015 – University of York Symphony Orchestra (cond. John Stringer), Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York (WORLD PREMIERE)

 

Recording

Live recording from world premiere

 

Image

Kießling, Johannes: Untersuchungen über Dämmerungserscheinungen : zur Erklärung der nach dem Krakatau-Ausbruch beobachteten atmosphärisch-optischen Störung. Hamburg und Leipzig : Verlag von Leopold Voss, 1888. ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Rar 29145, https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-56381 / Public Domain Mark

IMMENSE BLEAK ELECTRIC ADVERTISEMENT OF GOD

16 players & fixed media

20′

2024

fl(=picc & alto).ob.cl.bsn(=cbsn) – perc(2) – pno(=cel) – hp – str: 1.1.1.1.1

Immense Bleak Electric Advertisement of God has not yet been publicly performed, but was workshopped by Octandre Ensemble with the help of artistic directors Jon Hargreaves and Christian Mason and the musicians listed below.

 

Recording

From a workshop by Octandre Ensemble, Milton Court Concert Hall, September 2024

 

Musicians

Flute: Noemi Gyori
Oboe: Anna Durance
Clarinet: Adam Slater
Bassoon: Patrick Bolton

Horn: Julian Faultless
Trumpet: Shane Brennan
Trombone: Raph Clarkson

Percussion 1: Calum Huggan
Percussion 2: Angela Wai Nok Hui

Harp: Anneke Hodnett

Piano: Jo Havlat

Vn I: Mandhira de Saram
Vn II: Rosie Kennally
Va: Chihiro Ono
Vc: Corentin Chassard
Cb: Rosie Moon

A CLOCKWORK TOY’S GLORIFYING DIRGE 

mixed octet

7′

2018

clarinet (=bass clarinet), bassoon, french horn, 2 violins, viola, cello

Composed on the PRS Accelerate Scheme 2018

 
Performances

24.11.2018: The Berkeley Ensemble, St James Piccadilly, London (WORLD PREMIERE)

BETELGEUSE ASTRAL FUNICULAR

16 players

5′

2017

fl(=picc).ob.cl(=bcl). bsn(=cbsn) – perc(2): 1: crot/large susp.cymbal / 2: vibr/glock/tam-t – pno – hp – str: 1.1.1.1.1

Composed on the Britten-Pears composition course 2017

 

Performances

22.06.2018 – Britten-Pears Young Artist Ensemble (cond. Jonathan Berman), Britten Studio, Snape

14.07.2017 – Ulysses Ensemble (cond. Jonathan Berman), Britten Studio, Snape (WORLD PREMIERE)

 

Recording

Live recording from 2018 performance

 

Images

1. Tbilisi Funicular – Inside the Trolley

2. ‘Orion Head to Toe’ by Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

LOCKS OF THE APPROACHING STORM

mixed octet

7′

2016

picc(=afl).cl. – hn – perc(1): vib/crot/hi-hat/2 bongos/4 toms/BD/large susp.cymbal/ tam-t – str: 1.0.1.1.1

‘… there are spread
On the blue surface of thine aëry surge,
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head

Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge
Of the horizon to the zenith’s height,
The locks of the approaching storm …’

 

– Ode to the West Wind, Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

Written for the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Music of Today Series as a result of receiving the 2015 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize

 

Performances

23.06.2016 – members of the Philharmonia Orchestra (cond. Diego Masson), Royal Festival Hall, London

 

Recording

Live recording from world premiere

 

CAST

solo piano & 9 players

15′

2016

picc(=afl).cl.ob(=CA) – perc(1): mar/glock/4 toms/BD – pno(solo) – str: 1.1.1.1.1

Written on receipt of the University of York’s Terry Holmes Composer/Performer Award 2015, based on a joint application with pianist Jin Hyung Lim

 

Cast should ideally be performed in an auditorium where three separate instrumental groups can be placed behind/around the audience.

 

Performances

04.05.2016 – Jin Hyung Lim (piano), University of York Chamber Ensemble (cond. John Stringer), Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall,
York (WORLD PREMIERE)

 

Recording

Live recording from world premiere

UNFURL

mixed sextet

6′

2014

clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin, cello, double bass

 

A contagious clarinet flourish spreads through the ensemble.

 

Written on Sound & Music’s Portfolio scheme

 

Performances

20/11/2015: Chimera Ensemble, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York 

18/03/2014: Ensemble 10/10, Epstein Theatre, Liverpool (WORLD PREMIERE)

 

Recording

Live recording from world premiere

UNCANNY VALE

reed quintet

10′

2020

oboe (=cor anglais), clarinet (=clarinet in E), soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon

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.

– Calefax Composers Competition jury

Joint winner of the Calefax Composers Competition 2020

Recording

Studio recording by the Calefax Reed Quintet, May 2021

Image

An unattributed example of a 17th century anthropogenic landscape from the Flemish school

THE FUN WILL NEVER END

mixed sextet

6′

2020

flute, clarinet, piccolo trumpet, violin

Listen on TIDAL

‘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

RECORDING

Members of the London Symphony Orchestra

DARREN BLOOM conductor

DAVID LEFEBER Recording Producer/Engineer

COLIN MATTHEWS Producer

Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London on 21 December 2020

Catalogue number: NMC DL3046

Release date: 23 July 2021

More details on NMC

BURIAL IN THE SKY

clarinet trio

10′

2019

clarinet, piano & cello

Composed on the Dartington Advanced Composition Course 2019, mentored by Harrison Birtwistle.

PERFORMANCES

23.08.2019 – Tritium Trio, Dartingon Hall, Dartington (WORLD PREMIERE)

THREE MOVES

string quartet

10′

2017

PERFORMANCES

09.11.2017 – Diotima Quartet, University of York Music Department, York (WORLD PREMIERE)

UNCANNY VALE

wind quintet

11′

2014

flute (=alto), oboe (=cor anglais), clarinet (=Eclarinet), horn, bassoon

Uncanny Vale was co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall following OPUS2014, a competition for unpublished composers. The commission was made possible by the generous donations of 22 people including principal commissioners Roger and Susan May and one donation in memory of Ettore Fenaroli, as part of Britten Sinfonia’s Musically Gifted campaign. Wigmore Hall acknowledges the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation.

PERFORMANCES

03/12/2014 – Britten Sinfonia, Wigmore Hall, London

01/12/2014 – Britten Sinfonia, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

28/11/2014 – Britten Sinfonia, St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich (WORLD PREMIERE)

RECORDING

Live recording from West Road Concert Hall performance

IMAGE

An unattributed example of a 17th century anthropogenic landscape from the Flemish school

UHTCEARE

mixed quartet

10′

2014

flute, percussion (2 singing bowls/rattle/vib/2 bongos/2 toms/BD/large susp.cymb/5 tpl.bl), violin, and cello

Commissioned by Dark Inventions for their 2014 Firewheel tour

Published by the University of York Music Press

Recording by Dark Inventions

PERFORMANCES

16/04/2014 – Dark Inventions, Capstone Theatre, Liverpool

11/05/2014 – Dark Inventions, Left Bank, Leeds

10/05/2014 – Dark Inventions, National Centre for Early Music, York

08/05/2014 – Dark Inventions, The Engine House, Manchester (WORLD PREMIERE)

SWOOP

viola

5′

2021

Composed on the Psappha ‘Composing for…’ scheme 2021

 

VIDEO

Heather Wallington – viola

Mark Thomas – Director of Photography

Rob Kelledy – Sound recording and Mastering

Tim Williams – Editor and Producer

EEL

piano

3.5′

2020

Music for the eels at Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo during the 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown.

Written for Robin Haigh’s Twenty project.

MONODY

trumpet

1′

2019

Composed on the Dartington Advanced Composition Course 2019, mentored by Harrison Birtwistle.

 

PERFORMANCES

23.08.2019 – Tritium Trio, Dartingon Hall, Dartington (WORLD PREMIERE)

DUO TRIO

violin & cello

3′

2019

RECORDING

Live recording from world premiere

 

PERFORMANCES

10.07.2019Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham (WORLD PREMIERE)

THE VANITY OF SMALL DIFFERENCES

violin & cello

5′

2018

The three-minute version above was written and filmed on Psappha’s ‘Composing for…’ scheme in Spring 2018.

 

A revised five-minute version was prepared for a concert performance later in the year.  

 
PERFORMANCES

15/11/2018Psappha, St. Michael’s, Manchester (WORLD PREMIERE)

MONOLOGUES & DIALOGUES

bass clarinet & piano

13′

2017

PERFORMANCES

13/06/2017 –  SCAW, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York (WORLD PREMIERE)

ELSEWHERE 137

solo mezzo-soprano and prepared piano

5′

2022

PERFORMANCES

05/02/2022 – Jessica Summers and Jelena Makarova –  Unitarian Chapel, York, UK (WORLD PREMIERE)

PRAYER (I)

choir

5′

2019

sopranos, altos, and unison male singers

A setting of George Herbert’s Prayer (1)

 

Published in UYMP Anthems for Sopranos, Altos and Unison Male Singers

THREE SHRINGI KUMARI POEMS

performance poet & bass clarinet

6′

2017

PERFORMANCES

03/06/2017 – Shringi Kumari and Sapphire Littler –  Stained Glass Centre, York, UK (WORLD PREMIERE)

SONILLUMINATIONS

installation

17′

2024

stereo speaker pair & optional video

Sonilluminations was a sound installation hosted by the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester, in July 2024.

 

The music draws from the eclectic collections held by the library, including their ornithological illustrations, medieval manuscripts, Jodrell Bank observatory records, broadside ballads, and Delia Derbyshire papers.

MARBLE ANTHEM

electroacoustic

8′

2022

Marble Anthem is a response to the monument to Sir John Stainer, by Henry Peagram, 1903, at St Paul’s Cathedral.

It was commissioned as part of the ’50 Monuments in 50 Voices’ project, a collaboration between St Paul’s Cathedral and the History of Art department at the University of York, which you can find out about here.

 

You can read more about the piece on the project’s blog here.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Marble Anthem uses the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir’s 1989 recording of ‘I Saw the Lord’ released on Hyperion records, conducted by John Scott and with Andrew Lucas playing the organ. The impulse response recordings were made on 25th August 2022 by members of the OpenAIR project at the University of York: Professor Damian Murphy, Dr Aglaia Foteinou and Dr Frank Stevens.

 

This work is one of the outputs of a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship  project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and hosted by Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

CONTACT