In 2017 Martin Jones visited the National Library of Wales, and uncovered manuscript scores of these and many other piano works written by the young Dan Jones. “The depth and range of the works presented on this release suggest that Jones was a natural composer for the piano and until his symphonic odyssey had begun, he used this medium, along with that of the string quartet, for some of his most profound utterances.” Paul Conway It was in 1972 that I first met Dan Jones, working with him on several occasions as Sharon McKinley and I prepared to give the first performance of a Cello Sonata the composer had written for us. At that time the sets of Bagatelles published by the University of Wales Press were the only piano music of his that I knew. I can remember asking him if he would write some new piano pieces. His reply was blunt - he was not interested in writing piano music, and had not written anything much in the past. My abiding memory of him is of someone very witty and genial, and just delighted to hear his music being played. I had taken Dan’s dismissal of any piano music at face value, so was intrigued to find boxes of piano works by Daniel Jones listed in a catalogue of manuscripts held in the National Library Archive in Aberystwyth. In early 2017 Adrian Farmer and I went to look at these manuscripts, and were surprised to find so many complete works, including many fair copies in a neat hand clearly meant for performance and publication. They are all precisely dated, including the locations where they were completed. Some of them are even ‘fingered’, just as you would do if you were preparing to perform them yourself. I do hope these recordings and the publications that accompany them, will persuade pianists to include this important music in their programmes in the future. Martin Jones, 2022
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