Remembering Peter Ward Jones
Written by Susan Wollenberg, Professor Emerita of Music
Peter Ward Jones, who died on 22 March 2026 after a short illness, was a fine example of expertise as both scholar and practitioner, the latter particularly focusing on keyboard performance (organ and harpsichord) and choral directorship. He was glad to have lived to see his magnum opus, British Choral Singing: A History from Medieval Times to the Present Day, in print from Boydell earlier this year. Jeremy Dibble, reviewing the book for Gramophone magazine, noted its 'fulsome references and valuable bibliography'. He ended his review observing that, while acknowledging the dangers to the choral tradition posed by post-Covid economic pressures, 'Ward Jones, in optimistic mood, suggests that the very impetus that inspired the nation's desire to sing will ultimately determine its survival and its retention as a national imperative'.
Peter's bibliographical skills were finely honed, and many a Festschrift owed its list of the honorand's publications to his efforts. In his funeral eulogy, Diarmaid MacCulloch mentioned that among Peter's own publications were some 60 articles.
Peter's contribution to Mendelssohn scholarship was of prime importance among his research interests, and deeply connected with his post as Librarian at the Bodleian as well as the Music Faculty. He gained valuable experience in producing the third volume in the catalogue of the Bodleian's Deneke Mendelssohn collection (one of the major such collections worldwide), complementing the work of his colleague Margaret Crum on the previous two volumes. His book The Mendelssohns on Honeymoon, published by Clarendon Press in 1997, was beautifully put together, its choice of illustrations and commentary reflecting his command of his subject. As expressed in the tribute to Peter published in the Bodleian Library Record on his retirement in 2009, it was 'characteristic of his attention to detail that he had taken study leave to follow the newly-weds' itinerary in order to identify every place visited and every prospect described'. For many years he served on the Board of the authoritative Mendelssohn Edition, retiring only recently.
He was pleased to see the volume edited by Thomas Schmidt and Benedict Taylor, Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn in Context in the series from Cambridge University Press, in print earlier this year, to which he contributed two chapters, 'Correspondence' (on Mendelssohn's letters) and 'England' (on his visits here).
Peter's published work, and his generous help to other scholars with their enquiries, represent a distinguished, meticulous, and humane contribution to musicological endeavour.
