The Flower Composers
Creating a new set of “Songs of the Seasons”
We are delighted to announce that ELECTRIC VOICE THEATRE is commissioning a new set of
Songs of the Seasons
from
Frances M Lynch – Spring
Anna Appleby – Summer
Lilly Vadaneaux – Autumn
Amanda Johnson – Winter
The composers will be inspired by
“Free Trade Songs of the Seasons”
Music by Eliza Flower (1803 – 1846)
Words by Sarah Flower Adams (1805 – 1848)
SPRING
“The Descent of the Lark”
Performed by
Frances M Lynch
Soprano & Piano
WINTER
“Promise”
Performed by
Samantha Houston – Mezzo
Electric Voice Theatre Virtual Choir
Flower’s “Free Trade Songs of the Seasons” was published by Novello to support the Anti-Corn-Law League at their extraordinary Bazaar, held over 17 days in the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 1845. The texts of the songs are by her sister, the poet, Sarah Flower Adams who is best known for penning the hymn “Nearer My God To Thee”. They worked together, not just artistically but also in radical politics, fighting for the rights of workers, women, enslaved people, and particularly for the poor and their struggle to survive in the face of high food prices and low wages – a struggle sadly mirrored today.
Our four Flower Composers are working together to create a song cycle for acapella voices reflecting both the seasons and the politics of power and poverty in the shadow of environmental crisis.
The new works, for acapella voices, will be premiered on Oct 27th at Conway Hall, London as part of
“Flowers of the Seasons – Politics, Power & Poverty”
BOOK NOW
With grateful thanks to our funders
The National Lottery Heritage Fund – National Lottery players,
Hinrichsen Foundation and Ambache Charitable Trust
and our partner Conway Hall Ethical Society
A Rare Species at Conway Hall
THE FLOWER COMPOSERS
SPRING
Frances M Lynch writes for choirs, music theatre, art exhibitions, plays, instrumental ensembles and electronics. Some of her scientific works have been played on BBC Radio 3, including Superposition of State (quantum physics), Virus in Molecular Mode and “Minerva Mathematica”. Collaborations with visual artists include “Miss Amy-Lloyd Folding“ (2023) commissioned by Serpell Lab (Alzheimers’ research) University of Sussex and Firmament which has 4,700 Youtube hits. She has written for Historic Environment Scotland, Great Tapestry of Scotland, The London Gaelic Choir, Barefoot Opera, Science Museum and more. Her stage work “Scottish Superwomen of Science” won 5 star reviews at Edinburgh Fringe.
SUMMER
Anna Appleby (born in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a Manchester-based composer and songwriter. Her classical work has been performed all over the world and she continues to compose spiritual, hard-hitting, melodic and rhythmically-driven work for orchestras, opera companies, choreographers, contemporary music ensembles, soloists and choirs. She also has an experimental electronic music alter-ego called Norrisette. Recent premieres include an opera, Drought, for the BBC Philharmonic, an award-winning collaborative youth opera for Glyndebourne, Pay the Piper.
AUTUMN
Lilly Vadaneaux is a composer, pianist and choral singer currently studying Music at Clare College, Cambridge. She attended Junior Guildhall from 2011 to 2021, where she studied composition with Paul Whitmarsh and Jeffery Wilson. She has also received mentoring from composer Roxanna Panufnik. Lilly was a winner of the NCEM Young Composers Award in 2013 and 2018 and the CASS Saxophone Composition Prize in 2016. She was also highly commended in the 2016 and 2019 BBC Young Composer Competition. Lilly has been commissioned to write new works for the West Wicklow Festival (2019) and the Opera Cameratina Festival (2022).
WINTER
Amanda Johnson is a composer and violinist based in Sheffield with an MA in performance. She composes music which explores the themes of migration, identity and freedom, combining recorded sound with instruments and voices. She recently worked with The National Trust, Sage Gateshead and Britten Pears Arts and her music has been performed at venues including the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Art, Wentworth Woodhouse and The National Media Museum. It has featured in radio broadcasts in the UK, USA and Switzerland and collected into three public collections. In 2017 she received the Francis Chagrin award and a Finzi Scholarship in 2019.
