Minerva Scientifica Birthday Celebration: Eliza Flower
19th April 2021
Eliza Flower
Composer and Pianist
BORN 19th April 1803, Harlow, Essex
Now Pray We For Our Country by Eliza Flower
(click the blue button above to listen)
Eliza Flower(1803 – 1846) wrote this patriotic anthem for SATB acapella chorus. In this first ever recording of the piece the singers from electric voice theatre were Alice Privett, Jenny Miller, Margaret Cameron, David Sheppard, Julian Stocker & Gwion Thomas. They recorded several different parts each, individually in their homes and the work was constructed at Birnam Studios, London, during the Covid-19 Pandemic. It was first “performed” for a Soundings from Essex event in August 2020.
“Now pray we for our country
That England long may be
The holy and the happy
and the gloriously free
Who blesseth her is blessed
So peace be in her walls
And joy in all her palaces
Her cottages and halls”
Eliza Flower (1803 – 1846) was a composer and organist whose main body of work was created for the South Place Unitarian Chapel, London. She held very progressive views on women’s rights and education and profoundly influenced the preacher there – William Johnson Fox – along with many other intellectuals of her day including poet Robert Browning, writers Harriet Martineau and William and Mary Howitt, Thomas Southwood Smith (physician), philosophers Harriet Taylor and John Stuart Mill, musician and publisher Vincent Novello, artists William James Linton and Margaret Gillies, and academic Thomas Wade. The Poet Catherine Bromley described her as:-
… a bewildering, fascinating, elusive being, the presiding genius in all the the social and musical activities of the chapel.
To find out more about her life and work please go to her page on the Minerva Scientifica Website https://minervascientifica.co.uk/eliza-flower/
The image of Eliza Flower is by kind permission of Dr Jim Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Conway Hall, London
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Created by electric voice theatre, Minerva Scientifica is a project that brings together professional performers with community musicians and school children. Together, we raise awareness of the rich heritage and deep connections between music and science, and inspire the next generation of future scientists.
