Soloists Kelley O’Connor and Tobias Greenhalgh, with Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices under Natalie Murray-Beale, will give the first public performance of A Sheen of Dew on Flowers, Joby’s new cantata commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Independent Opera, to celebrate the acquisition of Queen Victoria’s coronet. The cantata honours the depth of love between the Queen and her consort, Prince Albert, and the equally profound mourning she observed following his untimely death, by setting love poetry from across the centuries, all of it by women, arranged in such a way as to trace the arc of a relationship from its first flowering through to its loss.

The world premiere will be given at a special presentation at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 11 April. More information and tickets can be found on the Barbican website.