Career

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. In 1974 Jones attended the University of York from which he graduated with a master's degree in Film and Media Music. At the National Film and Television School Jones studied for three years on general film-making and film and sound techniques. 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 for the short "The Black Angel".

Jones was soon after brought to the attention of John Boorman, who was in the midst of making his Arthurian epic, Excalibur (1981). 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.

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 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.

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

Jones reunited with Henson for the 1986 fantasy musical Labyrinth. David Bowie wrote and performed the vocal tracks for this movie, including the hit "Underground", while Jones provided the dramatic score.

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 favor of mood-enhancing synth chords and minimalist patterns. While he did write a somber, chamber orchestra score in 1988 for Dominick and Eugene (which featured classical guitarist John Williams), scores like Angel Heart (1987), Mississippi Burning (1988) and Sea of Love (1989) are more typical of Jones' output during this period.

Jones' return to large-orchestra scoring came with 1990s Arachnophobia, and he provided a light-hearted Georges Delerue-flavoured score for Blame it on the Bellboy in 1992.

Jones' most popular success came later in 1992 with his score for The Last of the Mohicans, and his soaring, passionate music belies the difficulties which afflicted its creation. 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. Finally, with the release date looming, composer Randy Edelman was called-in to score some minor scenes which Jones did not have time to do. Jones and Edelman received co-credit on the film (thus making this very popular and acclaimed score ineligible for Oscar consideration). Although all were displeased with the circumstances, Jones was not fired from the film despite reports to the contrary.

Jones became active in television in the 90s, with orchestral scores for several Hallmark productions, including Gulliver's Travels, Merlin and Cleopatra. He also provided a fun, jazzy, 30s-style score for Richard III (1995), which features a swing-band setting of Christopher Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. In 1997 Jones worked for the first time with acclaimed director Ridley Scott, providing an electronic/orchestral/rock-flavoured soundtrack for G.I. Jane (1997).

Soundtracks

Film

Year	Title	Director	Studio(s)	Notes
1979	Brittania: The First of the Last	John Samson	N/A	Short film
1980	Black Angel	Roger Christian	20th Century Fox	Short film
	Brothers and Sisters	Richard Woolley	British Film Institute (BFI)	Also conductor.
	The Beneficiary	Carlo Gebler	National Film and Television School (NFTS)	N/A
1981	Excalibur	John Boorman	Orion Pictures Warner Bros.	Also conductor. Bootleg soundtracks released by Old World Music and Excalibur Enterprises.
	Time Bandits	Terry Gilliam	HandMade Films Janus Films Avco Embassy Pictures	Composed the Greek Dance Music cue only. Majority of score by Mike Moran.
	The Appointment	Lindsey C. Vickers	First Principle Film Productions Ltd.	Also conductor.
1982	The Sender	Roger Christian	Paramount Pictures	Soundtrack released by La-La Land Records.
	The Dark Crystal	Jim Henson	ITC Entertaiment Henson Associates Universal Pictures Columbia Pictures	First collaboration with Jim Henson. Score performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Soundtrack released by Warner Bros. Records, reissued in 2007 by La-La Land Records.
1983	Nate and Hayes	Ferdinand Fairfax	Paramount Pictures	Soundtrack released by La-La Land Records.
1985	Runaway Train	Andrei Konchalovsky	Northbrook Films Golan-Globus Productions The Cannon Group Inc.	Also conductor. Soundtrack released by Enigma Records, reissued by La-La Land Records.
1986	Labyrinth	Jim Henson	Henson Associates. Lucasfilm TriStar Pictures	Second and last collaboration with Jim Henson. Soundtrack released by EMI with the songs by David Bowie and about 20 minutes of score.
1987	Angel Heart	Alan Parker	Carolco Pictures TriStar Pictures	N/A
1988	Dominick and Eugene	Robert M. Young	Orion Pictures	Also conductor. Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande.
	Just Ask for Diamond	Stephen Bayly	20th Century Fox	N/A
	Mississippi Burning	Alan Parker	Orion Pictures	Soundtrack released by Island Records. Nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Original Film Score.
	Sweet Lies	Nathalie Delon	Island Pictures	N/A
1989	Sea of Love	Harold Becker	Universal Pictures	Soundtrack released by Mercury Records.
1990	Bad Influence	Curtis Hanson	Triumph Releasing Corporation	N/A
	Arachnophobia	Frank Marshall	Amblin Entertainment Hollywood Pictures	First fully orchestral score since Labyrinth. Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records.
1991	True Colors	Herbert Ross	Paramount Pictures	N/A
	Chains of Gold	Rod Holcomb	M.C.E.G. Orion Pictures	N/A
1992	Freejack	Geoff Murphy	Morgan Creek Productions Warner Bros.	N/A
	Blame it on the Bellboy	Mark Herman	Hollywood Pictures	Also orchestrator.
	CrissCross	Chris Menges	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	Also conductor and orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Intrada Records.
	The Last of the Mohicans	Michael Mann	Morgan Creek Productions 20th Century Fox Warner Bros.	Composed with Randy Edelman. Original soundtrack released by Morgan Creek Records. A re-recorded version, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Joel McNeely, was released by Varèse Sarabande in 2000. Nominated for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Score.
1993	Cliffhanger	Renny Harlin	Carolco Pictures Le Studio Canal+ Pioneer Corporation RCS MediaGroup TriStar Pictures	Also orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Scotti Bros. Records, reissued by Intrada Records in 2011.
	In the Name of the Father	Jim Sheridan	Hell's Kitchen Films Universal Pictures	Also orchestrator.
1994	De Baby Huilt	Mijke de Jong	N/A	Short film.
1995	Hideaway	Brett Leonard	TriStar Pictures	Also conductor.
	Kiss of Death	Barbet Schroeder	20th Century Fox	Also conductor and orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Milan Records.
	Richard III	Richard Loncraine	United Artists Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	Soundtrack released by London International.
1996	Loch Ness	John Henderson	PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Working Title Films Gramercy Pictures Universal Pictures	Also orchestrator.
1997	Brassed Off	Mark Herman	Prominent Features Miramax Films Channel Four Films	Also conductor and orchestrator. Soundtrack released by RCA Victor. Nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Original Film Score.
	Roseanna's Grave	Paul Weiland	Spelling Films Fine Line Features PolyGram Filmed Entertainment	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
	G.I. Jane	Ridley Scott	Hollywood Pictures Caravan Pictures Largo Entertainment	Also orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Hollywood Records.
	Lawn Dogs	John Duigan	Strand Releasing The Rank Organisation	Also orchestrator.
1998	Desperate Measures	Barbet Schroeder	Mandalay Entertainment TriStar Pictures	Also conductor and orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Velvel Records.
	Dark City	Alex Proyas	Mystery Clock Cinema New Line Cinema	Also orchestrator. Soundtrack released by TVT Records.
	The Mighty	Peter Chelsom	Scholastic Miramax Films	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra Soundtrack released by Pangaea Records. The song « The Mighty » was nominated for a Golden Globe.
	Titanic Town	Roger Michell	Shooting Gallery	N/A
	Talk of Angels	Nick Hamm	Miramax Films	N/A
1999	Notting Hill	Roger Michell	PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Working Title Films Universal Pictures	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra Soundtrack released by Island Records.
	Molly	John Duigan	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	N/A
2000	Thirteen Days	Roger Donaldson	Beacon Pictures New Line Cinema	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Soundtrack released by New Line Records.
	The Long Run	Jean Stewart	Universal Focus	Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
2001	From Hell	Albert Hughes Allen Hughes	20th Century Fox	Also orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande.
2002	Crossroads	Tamra Davis	MTV Films Zomba Films Paramount Pictures	Also orchestrator.
2003	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen	Stephen Norrington	Angry Films International Production Company JD Productions 20th Century Fox	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Soundtrack released by Varèse Sarabande
	I'll Be There	Craig Ferguson	Morgan Creek Productions Warner Bros.	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
2004	Around the World in 80 Days	Frank Coraci	Walden Media Walt Disney Pictures	Also orchestrator. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records.
	I, Robot	Alex Proyas	Davis Entertainment Overbrook Entertainment 20th Century Fox	Rejected score. Replaced by Marco Beltrami.
The Unsteady Cough	Sam Leifer Jonathan van Tulleken	Rise Films	Short film.
2005	Bôkoku no îjisu	Junji Sakamoto	Cross Media	N/A
	Chaos	Tony Giglio	Capitol Films Lionsgate	Also orchestrator. Soundtrack released by Contemporary Media Recordings as a digital-only release. Direct-to-DVD in the United States.
2006	Fields of Freedom	David de Vries	Greystone Communications	Soundtrack released by Contemporary Media Recordings.
	We Fight to Be Free	Kees van Ostrum	Greystone Communications	Short film.
2008	Three and Out	Jonathan Gershfield	Worldwide Bonus Entertainment	Soundtrack released by Contemporary Media Recordings.
2011	War Paint	Marcus Carlos Liberski	N/A	Short film.
2012	How to Steal 2 Million	Charlie Vundla	Indigenous Film	N/A
2015	To Tokyo	Caspar Seale Jones	Mannequin Films	In post-production.

Television

• Ripping Yarns (1979) (1 episode)
• Joni Jones (1982) (TV mini-series)
• The World of The Dark Crystal (1983) (TV documentary) (uncredited) (material from The Dark Crystal)
• Those Glory Glory Days (1983) (TV Movie)
• One of Ourselves (1983) (TV Movie)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1984) (TV mini-series) (3 episodes)
• This Office Life (1984) (TV Movie)
• Aderyn Papur... and Pigs Might Fly (1984) (TV Movie)
• The Last Place on Earth (1985) (TV mini-series) (7 episodes)
• Arena (1985) (TV documentary) (1 episode)
• Dr. Fischer of Geneva (1985) (TV Movie)
• Jim Henson Presents the World of International Puppeteering (1985) (TV Series)
• Inside the Labyrinth (1986) (TV documentary)
• Coppers (1988) (TV Movie)
• Murder by Moonlight (1989) (TV Movie)
• Screen Two (1989) (TV series) (1 episode)
• By Dawn's Early Light (1990) (TV Movie)
• Guns: A Day in the Death of America (1990) (TV documentary)
• Death Train (1993) (TV Movie)
• Generations (1994-present) (Drama series)
• Gulliver's Travels (1996) (TV Movie)
• Merlin (1998) (TV mini-series) (Emmy Award Nomination)
• Cleopatra (1999) (TV mini-series)
• Dinotopia (2002) (TV mini-series)
• Witness from Dinotopia (2002) (TV documentary)
• Jozi-H (2006-2007) (TV series)
• Blood and Oil (2009) (TV Movie)
• Labyrinth (2012) (TV mini-series)

Video games

• Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (2005)

Selected bibliography

• Cooper, David, Christopher Fox & Ian Sapiro (eds.), CineMusic? Constructing the Film Score, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. Book page on publisher's website
• Sapiro, Ian & David Cooper, "Spotting, Scoring, Soundtrack: The Evolution of Trevor Jones's Score for Sea of Love", 17-32 in CineMusic? Constructing the Film Score, edited by David Cooper, Christopher Fox & Ian Sapiro. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]