George Herbert’s poem Antiphon I is familiar in Vaughan Williams’ glorious setting from The Five Mystical Songs and as a hymn to the tune Luckington. Janet’s new setting for SATB and organ contrasts an energetic and rhythmically varied refrain with verses over a shifting ostinato. The première will be given by St Pancras Church Choir conducted by Christopher Batchelor at Evensong on May 14th as part of the 2022 London Festival of Contemporary Church Music…
Following JAM’s workshop in July 2021 on writing for brass or organ, Janet’s Film Noir for brass quintet was premièred by the wonderful Onyx Brass at St Bride’s Church Fleet Street in October 2021. At the end of the concert Janet was awarded the first President’s Commission to write a further piece for Onyx. The result was Up in the Morning Early – Variations on a Scots Song. The traditional song about a dislike of…
The Measure of a Tree is Janet’s new choral and orchestral piece written for Saffron Walden Choral Society who will give the premiere in Saffron Hall on March 19th 2022. The 30-minute piece explores the pivotal role of trees for all life on earth. It includes settings of poems by Ursula Vaughan Williams, Wendell Berry and Robert Macfarlane as well as texts by the composer, sometimes writing individually and sometimes jointly. One of the poems,…
Neil Ferris and singers from Sonoro have recorded Janet’s setting of The Cosmic Pied Piper, a poem by Jenny Rowbory, in preparation for the online launch of Jenny’s book ‘We Are the Winter People’. The book contains Jenny’s collected poems and is published in aid of her campaign to fund vital life-saving treatment which she can only get in America. The launch event takes place tonight (September 8th 2021 at 7.30 GMT) linked here.
Janet found immediate inspiration in December 2020 when she read The Cosmic Pied Piper, a poem by Jenny Rowbory. Jenny’s poetry is partially a response to her debilitating condition, which has kept her bed-bound for over sixteen years. Janet’s a cappella setting for mixed choir – featuring two solo soprano parts and mysterious choral whispering – seemed to arise effortlessly from the atmospheric poem. All proceeds from the piece will go towards Jenny’s GoFundMe campaign,…