Top 10 Facts about Trevor Jones

A photo of Trevor Jones by Professor Trevor Jones – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Facts about Trevor Jones

Trevor Alfred Charles Jones was born on 23 March 1949. He is a South African composer of film and television scores. . He has composed for numerous films, and his music has been critically acclaimed for its depth and emotion.

Trevor has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and three BAFTA Awards for Best Film Music. Trevor spent much of his career in the United Kingdom, Jones has worked on numerous well-known and acclaimed films. In the article are the top ten facts about Trevor Jones.

1. Jones decided to become a film composer when he was six!

I know it may sound cliché and insignificant when I say that approximately 22 percent of people successfully do pursue jobs their younger selves dreamed up.

Trevor Jones is one of these people who developed a love for some career and decided that no matter what comes mere, they will still do their dream careers.

At the age of six, Jones already had decided to become a film composer. In 1967 he attended the Royal Academy of Music in London with a scholarship and afterwards worked for five years for the BBC on reviews of radio and television music.

2. Trevor Jones attended the University of York

A photo of the University of York by Tim Green – Wikimedia commons

The University of York is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects.

So, it was in 1974 when Jones attended the University of York from which he graduated with a master’s degree in Film and Media Music. After leaving the institution, he joined the National Film and Television School Jones studied for three years on general film-making and film and sound techniques.

3. Trevor won the Academy Award when he was at the National Film and Television School

Trevor spent three years at the National Film and Television School. To be precise, he was there to study general filmmaking. During this time he wrote the music for twenty-two student projects.

In 1981 Jones wrote the score for the Academy Award-winning short movie The Dollar Bottom and the short Black Angel. The Dollar Bottom was directed by Roger Christian. It won an Oscar at the 53rd Academy Awards in 1981 for Best Short Subject.

4. John Boorman chose to work with the upcoming Trevor Jones

John Boorman photo by Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería – Wikimedia commons

Sir John Boorman CBE is a British film director, best known for feature films such as Point Blank (1967). He has directed 22 films and received five Academy Award nominations, twice for Best Director for Deliverance, and Hope and Glory.

So, it was never expected that the legendary John Boorman in the film industry would choose a newbie to work with him in his films. John Boorman was making his Arthurian epic, Excalibur (1981) when Trevor came to his attention.

Although mostly tracked with classical music by Richard Wagner and Carl Orff, Boorman also needed original dramatic cues as well as period music for certain scenes. Given Excalibur’s modest budget, a “name” composer was out of the question, so Boorman commissioned the up-and-coming young Jones.

5. Jones composed the Last Place on Earth wit the help of John Boorman’s pieces

The Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott and his Norwegian rival in polar exploration, Roald Amundsen in their attempts to reach the South Pole.

Jones followed Excalibur with scores for the horror films The Appointment (1981) and The Sender (1982), and the pirate adventure Savage Islands (1983). In 1985 Jones composed one of his best scores, for the acclaimed television production The Last Place on Earth.

6. Trevor worked with Jim Henson in the film The Dark Crystal

Jim Henson photo by Alan Light – Wikimedia commons

James Maury Henson was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and director of The Dark Crystal.

Excalibur brought Jones to the attention of Jim Henson, who was making The Dark Crystal (1982) and looking for a composer who was young and eager to work in the experimental, free-wheeling way which Henson preferred.

The resultant score is an expansive, multi-faceted work, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, augmented by the inventive use of Fairlight and Synclavier synthesizers, as well as period instruments like crumhorn, recorder, and the unusual double-flageolet, which Jones came across by chance in a music store.

7. Trevor reunited with Jim Henson for the 1986 fantasy musical Labyrinth

Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas as executive producer. Based on conceptual designs by Brian Froud, the film was written by Terry Jones, and many of its characters are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

The film stars Jennifer Connelly as 16-year-old Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, The Goblin King. David Bowie wrote and performed the vocal tracks for this movie, including the hit “Underground”, while Jones provided the dramatic score.

8. Trevor started electronic scoring in the 1980s

Reflecting that his complex, symphonic score for The Dark Crystal garnered little notice, Jones began to re-think his entire approach to dramatic scoring.

Around the mid-80s, Jones’ work became more electronic-based much like fellow film composer Maurice Jarre, eschewing identifiable themes in favour of mood-enhancing synth chords and minimalist patterns.

9. The Last of the Mohicans was Revor’s most popular success

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1992 American epic historical drama film set in 1757 during the French and Indian War. It was directed by Michael Mann and was based on the 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper and the 1936 film adaptation, owing more to the film than the novel.

Director Michael Mann initially asked Jones to provide an electronic score for the film, but late in the game, it was decided an orchestral score would be more appropriate for this historic epic.

Jones hurried to re-fashion the score for orchestra in the limited time left, while the constant re-cutting of the film meant music cues sometimes had to be rewritten several times to keep up with the new timings.

10. Jones became active in television in the 1990s

As a television personality, he came up with orchestral scores for several Hallmark productions, including Gulliver’s Travels, Merlin and Cleopatra. He also provided a fun, jazzy, 1930s-style score for Richard III (1995), which features a swing-band setting of Christopher Marlowe’s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.