I first came into contact with Joubert’s music when his daughter Anna, a fine cellist and at the time my colleague at the Orchestra of the Swan where I was Principal Guest Conductor, gave me a copy of the recording of his First Symphony under the baton of Vernon Handley. Explore John’s choral and organ works published with Novello When John Joubert passed away this week (on January 7) at the age of ninety-one, he left behind a vast body of work, reaching to nearly 200 opus numbers, including seven operas, three Symphonies and four Concertos. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. I was left with the unhappy thought that this one-off outing in a suburban school hall was in all probability the only time that the composer will get to hear his vital, warm-blooded creation performed live. He lived in Moseley, a suburb of Birmingham, England, for over 50 years. Featuring works commissioned for and first performed by the cathedral choir at Wells, this programme has at its heart the extended St Mark Passion, a profound and heartfelt retelling of the well-known passion story. Born in South Africa, Joubert settled in the UK after completing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1949. This, reader, is why we can’t have nice things.” This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. John Joubert Biography (Wikipedia) John Pierre Herman Joubert (joo-BAIR; 20 March 1927 – 7 January 2019) was a British composer of South African birth, particularly of choral works. From its first publication in 1847, Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece Jane Eyre has inspiredinnumerable theatrical interpretations for both stage and screen. Jane Eyre, which has not a single special effect or extended technique in it, is overflowing with textures, sounds and timbral combinations I’ve never seen anywhere else, always at the service of the drama and the musical ideas. Here is a little more about the composer: John Joubert was born in 1927 in Cape Town, and received his early musical education at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch and at the South African College of Music. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website.

Whatever our expectations were for the scope of this project, nothing could really prepare us for the enormity of the task. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.LnRiLWNvbnRhaW5lcltkYXRhLXRvb2xzZXQtYmxvY2tzLWNvbnRhaW5lcj0iNDBjMjkzMTE1YTVjOWZiMzExYjA4MTE0YzlkZmIwNmQiXSB7IHBhZGRpbmc6IDI1cHg7Ym94LXNoYWRvdzogNXB4IDVweCAxMHB4IDAgcmdiYSggMTM1LCAxOCwgNzEsIDAuNSApO2JvcmRlcjogMnB4IGRvdHRlZCByZ2JhKCAxMzUsIDE4LCA3MSwgMSApOyB9IA==We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Like many musicians in the UK, I had seen Joubert’s name around since my arrival, but it wasn’t until I sat down and listened properly to the First Symphony that I realised what a remarkable composer he was. Scored for remarkably small forces, John manages to generate everything from huge symphonic sweep to a spikier, more modernist soundscape to the most intimate If it is a source of frustration for those of us who knew and admired both the man and his music that most of this vast output remains regrettably neglected and seldom performed, we can take comfort in the fact that composers as iconic as J. S. Bach were also similarly misunderstood and neglected in their own lives. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. John never heard the work live again. Quite the same Wikipedia. Fortunately, progress has been made in making some of the major works of John’s vast catalogue available through recordings, thanks to the efforts of labels like Somm, Lyrita and Resonus. Born in Cape Town in 1927, John Joubert’s compositional career stretched over 70 years. John talks about his works and his most recent recording of his opera Jane Eyre.

Birmingham composer, John Joubert has died aged 91. Paul Conway on "John Joubert at 90" is the featured article in April/June 2017 edition of Musical Opinion magazine. In the end, in spite of monumental efforts by all those involved in the premiere and others to organise a full production of Jane Eyre while John was still with us, Bratby’s grim prognostication proved all too true. But in Joubert we’ve taken a born musical dramatist and pigeonholed him as a composer of Christmas carols. It was on 12 April 1956 that Russian-born pianist Iso Elinson invited John to write him a Piano Concerto. It is music which commands the respect of performers and the affection of the audience. Completing the album are the expansive But his time Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. John’s writing for the human voice is challenging and exposed, but he understood it, whether in opera or choir, to perfection, and his ability to set texts is second to none. John Pierre Herman Joubert was a British composer of South African birth, particularly of choral works. Read the interview by David Smith of Presto Classical. In 1950, he took up his first academic post at the University of Hull, later moving to the faculty of Birmingham University in 1962, where he taught until taking early retirement to focus on composition in 1986.