Janet Beat is one of the pioneers electronic music, and winner of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from Scottish Women Inventing Music in 2019.
She has composed a wide range of works, with and without electronics, for orchestras, ensembles, films and theatre. Thankfully, works for guitar have also been created by this important composer. In addition to Arabesque, scenes from Jordan (Furore Verlag: fue 1720), her oeuvre also contains a milestone in music for guitar and electronics:
"A Willow Swept By Rain" from 1982 is a commissioned composition by Phillip Thorne with the financial support of the Scottish Arts Council.
In the almost 13-minute work the guitar part and the electronic sounds are very detailed and finely composed. In a review, the author relates the work to "Eastern European folk". From the listening impression, this is understandable, but whether it corresponds to the facts is unclear. Surprising to me is that the electronic sounds (produced with a Roland 100m Yamaha DX7), although over 40 years old, do not sound out of date or worn out, but quite the opposite!
What meaning and origin the title has, I could not find out. Possibly the phrase refers to the poem "Peter Quince at Clavier" by Wallace Stevens, in which contains the line "And as they whispered, the refrain / Was like a willow swept by rain".
The sheet music and sound files can be obtained from the Scottish Music Centre for a fee.
She has composed a wide range of works, with and without electronics, for orchestras, ensembles, films and theatre. Thankfully, works for guitar have also been created by this important composer. In addition to Arabesque, scenes from Jordan (Furore Verlag: fue 1720), her oeuvre also contains a milestone in music for guitar and electronics:
"A Willow Swept By Rain" from 1982 is a commissioned composition by Phillip Thorne with the financial support of the Scottish Arts Council.
In the almost 13-minute work the guitar part and the electronic sounds are very detailed and finely composed. In a review, the author relates the work to "Eastern European folk". From the listening impression, this is understandable, but whether it corresponds to the facts is unclear. Surprising to me is that the electronic sounds (produced with a Roland 100m Yamaha DX7), although over 40 years old, do not sound out of date or worn out, but quite the opposite!
What meaning and origin the title has, I could not find out. Possibly the phrase refers to the poem "Peter Quince at Clavier" by Wallace Stevens, in which contains the line "And as they whispered, the refrain / Was like a willow swept by rain".
The sheet music and sound files can be obtained from the Scottish Music Centre for a fee.
