Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Trumpet player who became principal trumpet at the Royal Opera House at age 21.
On the island
Eight records
English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Britten
I thought we'd start with something jolly, a bit of music by Purcell, because A, uh, he writes beautifully for trumpets, and I'm a trumpet player, and b he's probably the best composer we've ever had in England. And also, I suppose I would have to finally get up in the morning on my desert island, and this would act very nicely as Rivali music.
Fidelio: Quartet (Act II)Favourite
I was in the Opera House for quite a few years and so I thought I'd have a bit of opera on my desert island and it's from Fidelio. It's the quartet. In the dungeon where there's a great uh hoo-ha We're going to have a murder done. It's very dramatic.
Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 11
Dennis Brain with the Philharmonia Orchestra
The reason I want to choose this record is that not just because I'm a brass player, but I think Dennis was the most staggering brass player of all time. And he was a marvellous chap to work with and to talk to, a very, very modest man. And he did do something else, other than play the horn superbly well. He played the organ, and he played it very kindly at my wedding.
Sir John Betjeman with the Barrow Poets
I know the Barrow Poets. They are a group of musicians and actors who've entertained me and lots of other people marvellously for a long time. And the musicians of that group got together with Sir Don Betchman to make a record called Banana Blush. And there's a lovely little number on it, which is very nostalgic, called Business Women.
Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
Daniel Barenboim and the English Chamber Orchestra
Well, that's Mozart, and it's Barramboy and I've played a lot of Mozart with a lot of people, including, of course, Beecham... But in the what, the middle sixties, early 70s, Barenboim came on the horizon and I happened to be a member of the English Chamber Orchestra and it was this orchestra that he worked with mostly in that time and he did some fantastic work with the orchestra and often with Mozart.
Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47
London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
That's a piece of string music by Elgar. Very nostalgic, very English. and conducted by Sir Adrian Bolt who I've worked with for more than 20 years and have had a great deal of pleasure working with that very fine English conductor and also it's played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra which I've also spent many years playing with.
Traditional, arr. Elgar Howarth
I suppose at some time on my desert island I would feel frivolous, and so I've chosen a frivolous ending to my choice of eight. And I'm afraid it's one of my own records. But not because it's us, it's it's to show the the humour that's possible with brass instruments. And this particular little tune is a Swiss peasant tune which was arranged for us engagingly by Elga Haarth.
In conversation
Presenter asks
4:50Did you take it more or less for granted that you were going to play a brass instrument?
No, actually not. I heard a lot of brass instruments played, but I didn't really think much about it. I was more interested in playing a brass instrument for quite a different reason. There was a local bugle band, bugle drum band, when I was a kid that used to play on Saturday mornings and bash round the streets of South London. And I quite liked the noise. I fancied rather the bugle more than the drums. But most of all I liked the uniform. It was a sea cadet outfit and they had long trousers and I was in short trousers at the time.
Presenter asks
5:44Did you do any professional playing while you were a student?
Yes, a lot. Everything from music hall jobs to uh symphony concerts. Uh we were very lucky. Lots of opportunities. It was the end of the war. There was a shortage of players, uh of all instruments, and um students who could uh play reasonably well got better jobs than they deserved.
Presenter asks
6:48What do you remember as the great occasions [at the Royal Opera House]?
Oh, I think one of the greatest was when Cliver came Eric Cliver. He came to the opera house. To do first of all Rosen Cavalier, which was an opera we'd played a great deal, and it was an eye-opener to see Clyper at work on this piece. A most wonderful musician and a very clear way of beating and controlling what is a very difficult score orchestrally and of course getting the singers to sing very well.
The keepsakes
The book
George Grove
I've always thought if I had time I'd like to learn something about music.
The luxury
A magic barrel that provides an endless supply of champagne
I'd prefer champagne, but that little luxury would be nice. The everlasting supply.
Presenter asks
12:58What were you setting out to do, and why did you form [the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble]?
I was setting out to um To attack boredom, I discovered that as a trumpet player in an orchestra, I was going to spend most of my time sitting listening to everybody else playing the tunes and just joining in the loud bits. And I thought that that was going to be a bore if I was going to do that for the rest of my life, so I thought I'd better get some tunes written for brass instruments.
Presenter asks
18:32Could you look after yourself [on the island]?
I would be pretty bad, actually. I mean, I'm practical when I have to be,'cause I'm an extremely lazy fellow, really. I can actually screw a screw into a wall and things like that when I'm really pushed. So yes, I would build a shelter.
“I suppose once I got on that island I'd find that, uh, as usual you don't escape work. It only just changes.”
“I discovered that as a trumpet player in an orchestra, I was going to spend most of my time sitting listening to everybody else playing the tunes and just joining in the loud bits. And I thought that that was going to be a bore if I was going to do that for the rest of my life, so I thought I'd better get some tunes written for brass instruments.”
“Being a brass instrument, it does corrode, it does wear out slowly but surely, doesn't um appreciate as a stringed instrument. It deteriorates, and so therefore, if one is keen, one's likely to change one's instruments fairly often.”