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• Simon Hewitt Jones, Violinist

  English concert violinist. Asking essential questions about what's happening to music and the arts, and the role of the violin in contemporary world culture.

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This is the second of two guest blog posts by my grandmother, Anita Hewitt Jones, about my late Grandfather Tony Hewitt Jones (Composer, 1926 - 1989). Anita (Tony’s wife) was a cello teacher at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, and is herself a composer of educational chamber music (widely available through Edition Peters).

Tony Hewitt Jones was born in London in 1926. He won scholarships to Westminster School and Christ Church College, Oxford where he studied under Dr. Bernard Rose. He moved to Cheltenham in 1954 and after a few years teaching he became Assistant County music adviser and then Music Organizer for Gloucestershire.

His work included conducting and accompanying choirs, conducting orchestras, singing, playing the organ or harpsichord, and composing for every type of occasion, whether a brass fanfare for the opening of the Severn Bridge by the Queen, or a wedding much for a friend or relative.

Of his 200 or more compositions, music for voices takes up a large proportion of his output which includes songs, chamber music, music for strings, organ, woodwind and brass.

In 1960 his Te Deum received its first performance at the Three Choirs Festival followed by numerous other commissions: a piece for Alfred Deller for the entitled’ Henry Purcell’ for the Stour festival; the battle of Tewkesbury for the 1971 Tewkesbury Festival; Edmund King and Martyr for Bury St Edmunds Celebrations with Peter Pears as soloist. His trumpet concerto was performed by the Cheltenham Chamber Orchestra in 1986 and was his last major work before he died of bone cancer in 1989.

Over the years he had been in constant demand as a composer. He was popular, warm hearted and highly entertaining with his Elizabethan beard (which formed part of his distinctive signature.) His compositional style could be tough harmonically, but is based on traditional practicality for performance by amateurs as well as professionals. His last anthem’ out of the deep’ was performed at his funeral in 1989.

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