Cecilia McDowall

This setting of the evocative poem by Chesterton is atmospheric and powerful. Showcasing McDowall's distinctive style, its minor tonality, subtle chromaticisms, and whole-tone scales portray the contr...

The charming and vibrant melody of this attractive carol for choir and organ glides above harmonies that are almost entirely diatonic, but whose originality and frequent passing dissonances mean that...

This jubilant carol sets an evocative fourteenth-century text celebrating the birth of Christ. With a lilting, medieval feel and changing metres, Of A Rose has been recorded by The Sixteen on their al...

This solemn work sets a traditional Latin prayer lauding the Virgin Mary, with intense melodic lines that reflect the mystery of the immaculate conception. McDowall combines modal writing with harmoni...

Setting excerpts from the poem 'Wonder' by the metaphysical poet Thomas Traherne, The skies in their magnificence captures the poem's sense of majesty and expansiveness. Long phrases and expressive dy...

For SATB choir, soprano solo, and children's choir with piano or organ or chamber orchestra or brass. This accessible Christmas cantata presents a sequence of the five carols 'Personent hodie', 'Entre...

Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo tells the extraordinary story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy forced by war to flee her home and embark on an arduous journey to Europe...

This delightful choral work brings together arrangements of four well-loved folksongs: 'Green Bushes', 'The Rambling Sailor', 'The Crystal Spring', and 'O, No John!'. The harp accompaniment is ideal f...

This delightful choral work brings together arrangements of four well-loved folksongs: 'Green Bushes', 'The Rambling Sailor', 'The Crystal Spring', and 'O, No John!'. The harp accompaniment is ideal f...

This joyful and expressive choral cantata is a setting of what is often thought of as a Thanksgiving psalm or a psalm in praise of Harvest time. From its atmospheric opening to its upbeat ending, the...

This joyful and expressive choral cantata is a setting of what is often thought of as a Thanksgiving psalm or a psalm in praise of Harvest time. From its atmospheric opening to its upbeat ending, the...

'Everyday Wonders': The Girl from Aleppo tells the extraordinary story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy forced by war to flee her home and embark on an arduous journey to Euro...

The patron saint of music is honoured in McDowall's setting of lyrics based on 'The Life of Saint Cecilia' in Jacobus de Voragine's 1275 The Golden Legend or Lives Of The Saints. The work's outer sect...

Night Flight was written to mark the centenary of Harriet Quimby's pioneering flight across the English channel and won the 2014 British Composer Award in the Choral category. McDowall uses vocal clus...

First performed by the choirs of St Paul's, Westminster Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey, this anthem sets a medieval English poem to contemplative music with all the hallmarks of McDowall's style: ex...

Night Flight was written to mark the centenary of Harriet Quimby's pioneering flight across the English channel. Setting texts by Sheila Bryer on the mysterious powers of the sea, earth, and air, McDo...