Janet’s Prelude on Angelus ad Virginem has been published in Encore Publications’ new anthology: Born in a Stable – Organ music for Advent and Christmas. Janet was delighted when Sarah MacDonald gave the première in Ely Cathedral on September 8th in her recital marking the Nativity of the BVM. Sarah plans to play it again in Westminster Abbey next year.
Birds of Paradise première Edinburgh’s Cadenza Choir commissioned Janet to compose a retirement gift for Jenny Sumerling, who directed the choir for 22 years. With new conductor Tim Coleman, the choir premièred Janet’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s ‘Birds of Paradise’ at Greyfriars Kirk on August 24th in their Edinburgh Fringe Festival concert. The music features aleatoric birdcalls from upper voices layered against a full SATB texture. The organ loft in Greyfriars Kirk made the ideal…
Janet was invited by Britten Sinfonia to take part in the 2023 Opus 1 scheme in which eight composers work with a Britten Sinfonia chamber ensemble over a series of workshops. This was a brilliant opportunity to write for a really unusual ensemble and to receive feedback from the players and mentoring from Dani Howard and Raymond Yiu along the way. It was also great hearing the other composers’ responses to their instrumental line-up. The…
In 673 St Etheldreda founded a double monastery on the site of Ely Cathedral. To mark the 1350th anniversary of this event, the Friends of Ely Cathedral have commissioned Janet to compose a new Ely Service. Janet has used the numbers 673 and 1350 as inspiration for some if the melodic material in the service. It will be sung on June 4th and also on June 21st when it will be broadcast live on BBC…
In the 400th anniversary year of Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, Janet was commissioned to write a setting of John Donne for the Chapel Choir to perform with Hackney Choral. She chose part of Donne’s prayer before his sermon for the dedication of the chapel in 1623 and combined this with some Latin quotations from St Bernard taken from the sermon itself, together with Donne’s own elaborated translations. The resulting anthem Be This Thine Ark likens the…