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JOHN  JOUBERT

Born Cape Town

   South Africa 20 March 1927

He received his early musical education in Cape Town, and in 1946 was awarded a Performing Right Society Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, London. In 1950 he was appointed to a lectureship in music at the University of Hull. Since 1962 Joubert has lived in Birmingham, where he held the post of reader in music at the University. In 1979 he was visiting professor at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He decided in 1986 upon early retirement in order to devote more time to composition. Durham conferred upon him the degree of DMus Honoris Causa in 1991, and he accepted an appointment as Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham in 1997. A very distinguished academic teaching career has not, however, precluded his gradual emergence as one of this country's most significant 'establishment' composers. Important commissions include works for the Three Choirs and Birmingham Triennial Festivals, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Society and the BBC. He was Composer in Residence at the Peterborough Cathedral Festival in 1990, and at the Presteigne Festival in 1997.

Compositions

1950 String Quartet No 1
          Divertimento, piano duet 1951
          Overture for orchestra
          Sonata for viola and piano

1952 0 Lorde, the Maker of Al Thing, for chorus and organ
         Torches, carols for chorus and organ or orchestra

1953 Miniature String Quartet
          The Burghers of Calais, cantata for soloists, chorus
          and chamber orchestra

1954 Antigone, a radio opera
         Symphonic Prelude for orchestra
         Concerto for violin
          'There is no Rose', for unaccompanied chorus

1955 Great Lord of Lords, for chorus and organ
          In the Drought, one-act opera Symphony No I

1956 Dance Suite for piano
          The God Pan, for female voices and piano Incantation
          for unaccompanied chorus

1957 Piano Concerto
           A North Country Overture
           Sonata No 1, in one movement, for piano
           Welcome Yule, for unaccompanied chorus

1958   String Trio

1960   Pro Pace, three unaccompanied choral motets

1961  Silas Marner, opera
          Octet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet and double-bass
          Passacaglia and Fugue for organ
          Christ is Risen, for chorus and organ
          Missa Beata loannis. for chorus and orchestra

1962 'Sweet Content', for unaccompanied chorus
         Sinfonietta for orchestra
         In Memoriam 1820, for orchestra

1963 Sonata a Cinque, for, flute, two violins, cello and harpsichord
         Leaves of Life, ballad cantata for soli, chorus and piano
         Urbs Beata, cantata for soli. chorus and orchestra o Lord Our Lord
         for chorus and organ

1964 The Holy Mountain, canticle for chorus and two pianos
         The Beatitudes, for unaccompanied chorus
         The Quarry, one-act opera
          Communion Service in D for chorus and organ

1966 Te Deum, for chorus and organ

1968 The Choir Invisible, choral symphony
          'Let There Be Light', unaccompanied choral motet
          '0 Praise God in His Holiness', for chorus and organ
          'Lord Thou Hast Been Our Refuge', for chorus and organ
          'Nowell', for chorus and organ
          Under Western Eyes, opera
          Six Poems of Emily Bronte'; for soprano and piano
          Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, for chorus and organ

1969 The Martyrdom of St Alban
          Cantata for speaker, soli, chorus and chamber orchestra
          'How Are My foes Increased, Lord', for unaccompanied chorus
          'All Wisdom Cometh from the Lord', for female voices and organ
          'I Will Lift up Mine Eyes unto the Hills', for female voices and piano

1970 Symphony No 2
         Dialogue, for soprano, counter-tenor, cello and harpsichord
         Duo for violin and cello
         African Sketchbook, for vocal quartet and wind quintet
         Kontakion, for cello and piano

1971 The Raising of Lazarus, oratorio with orchestra
         Behold, the Tabernacles of God, for chorus and organ

1972 Three Hymns to St Oswald, for chorus and organ
         'Four Stations on the Road to Freedom', for unaccompanied chorus
         Piano Sonata No 2

1973 The Prisoner, opera
         Concerto for bassoon and chamber orchestra
         Coverdale's Carol, for unaccompanied chorus
         Threnos, for harpsichord and twelve solo strings

1974 The Magus, for soli, chorus and orchestra
         Sleep Canticle, for unaccompanied chorus
         Crabbed Age and Youth
         for counter-tenor, recorder, viola de gamba and harpsichord

1977 'Lines from the Youth of Man', a capella choir

1978 Deploration. for harp, percussion and strings

1979 Herefordshire Canticles, for soli, chorus and orchestra
         The Turning Wheel, for soprano and piano

1983 The Wayfarers, Op. 98
         An opera in two acts for young people
         6 singing parts, chorus and orchestra: libretto by Stephen Tunnicliffe
         after Chaucer. Commissioned by St Peter's School, Huntingdon
         First performance 4 April 1984 directed by Barry Stone
         St Peter's School, Huntingdon

1984 Temps Perdu, Op. 99
         Commissioned by the English String Orchestra with funds from the
         Arts Council of Great Britain and Mitsubishi Ltd.
         First performance 1 October 1984 by the English String Orchestra
         conducted by William Boughton in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

1985 Chamber Music for Brass Quintet, Op. 104
         Commissioned by the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble
          with funds from West Midlands Arts
         First performance 22 August 1985 by the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble
         Three Choirs Festival, Hereford
         First London performance 8 December 1985
         by the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble
         Purcell Room, London

1986 String Quartet No.3, Op. 112
         Commissioned by the BBC
         First performance 13 March 1987by the Medici String Quartet
         BBC Pebble Mill

1986 Piano Trio, Op. 113
         Commissioned by the Hereford Concert Society
         with funds from West Midlands Arts
         First performance 19 March1987
         by the Joubert Trio Bishop's Palace, Hereford

1988 Improvisation, Op. 120
         For treble recorder and piano, composed for John Tume
         Recorder and Peter Lawson, piano First broadcast 21 October 1988
         as a BBC tribute for Howard Ferguson's 80th birthday

1988 String Quartet No.4 'Quartetto Classico', Op. 121
         Commissioned by Dr. Patria Asher for the Moor Green Quartet
         First public performance 19 October 1989 by the Arioso String Quartet
         at the Birmingham and Midland Institute

1990 Six Short Preludes on English Hymn Tunes, Op. 125
         For chamber organ
............

Picardy
Song One
Southwell
Abridge
Mon Dieu, prete-moi l'oreille
Old Hundredth

Commissioned for the 1990 Peterborough Festival
with funds from Peterborough Cathedral Arts Ltd.
First performance 4 July 1990 by Nicholas Danby Peterborough Cathedral

1997 Reflections on a Martyrdom, Op. 141
         For organ, commissioned by the Church of Saints Alban and
         Patrick for the organ restoration First performance 27 November 1997
         by Roy Massey at the Church of Saints Alban and Patrick, Birmingham

1997 Six Miniatures after Kilvert, Op. 140
         For violin and viola

Welsh Harp
The Swing
Mad Woman
Mountain Child
Schoolmaster with Violin
The New Harmonium

Composed for the 1997 Presteigne Festival
First performance 23 August 1997
by Harvey de Souza, violin and James Boyd, viola
Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Bleddfa, Powys

1987 - 1997 Jane Eyre, Op. 134 (1987-97)
          An opera in three acts
          Libretto by Kenneth Birkin after the novel by Charlotte Bronte

Please note, that this is by no means a complete listing of the works of John Joubert. Omissions are a large number of choral works, with or without accompaniment. A brochure with full listing is available from Novellos.

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