John Joubert: Piano Concerto, Symphony No. 3 – Martin Jones

   in Classical Music (Sep, 2018)
Born in Cape Town in 1927, John Joubert studied with Howard Ferguson and Alan Bush. He remained in the UK as a lecturer, becoming a full-time composer from 1986.

Joubert’s works are powerful statements, none more than the Third Symphony. He has written eight operas, and the Third Symphony (2014-17) is based on themes from Jane Eyre, reworking the opera’s five orchestral interludes as symphonic movements. Although none of the movements is based on traditional symphonic forms, there is a powerful cogency to Joubert’s writing that underlines its dark-hued intensity. Boughton shapes the surging phrases impeccably; climaxes have a natural inevitability.

Dedicated to and premiered by Eso Elinson, Joubert’s 1958 Piano …