St Mary's alumna edits Christmas anthem

St Mary's alumna Rachel Webber, who has recently finished her Music MA (Musicology pathway) with a distinction at the University of York, has discovered and edited a Christmas anthem by Georgian composer Jane Savage, which lays claim to be the earliest known anthem by a woman composer for the Anglican church. 

The anthem appears in a 1785 collection of music composed for the girls' choir of the chapel of The Asylum for Female Orphans and is a setting for unison voices and organ of the famous Christmas hymn 'While shepherds watched their flocks by night'.

Alongside Rachel's work as a music editor, she freelances as an administrator for variety of arts organisations across York and the UK.

The edition of 'Whilst shepherds watch'd their flocks by night' is available to buy on the Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press) website.