Joubert, John

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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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