Cecilia McDowall

This tender and affectionate setting of the well-loved poem of the same title by Robert Burns was written specifically for a wedding, but would suit almost any occasion.

Described as 'an outstanding work of great solemnity and poignancy' (Tempo, 2013), McDowall's meditation on the sorrows of the Virgin Mary is a sophisticated alternative to more well-known settings.

For SSA and piano Taken from a suite of three pieces by Cecilia McDowall called Lonely Hearts, composed in 2005, this is a light and energetic setting of a whimsical text by Christie Dickinson about a...

This moving cantata draws on biblical texts associated with Sir Ernest Shackleton, his 1916 Antarctic Expedition, and Rupert Brooke. With lustrous harmonies and a poignant tenor solo, it offers choirs...

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...

Written for the 2016 'Requiem to Cancer' event at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, Now is the Time sets hopeful and inspirational words by Marie Curie. McDowall's setting is optimistic and appealing,...

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

McDowall's setting is optimistic and appealing, with charming interplay between the voices and piano. The inspirational words are by Marie Curie.

In this spacious motet Jackson creates an original sound-world in praise of the Virgin Mary. Traditional Latin texts are combined with a Christina Rossetti poem celebrating the Annunciation.

This beautiful anthem, set to words by Timothy Rees and the composer, celebrates God's all-encompassing love for mankind. The gentle melody introduced in verse 1 by the sopranos prevails throughout an...

Brooke's arrangement of this traditional sea shanty is invigorating and atmospheric. Changing voices will enjoy the theme of trains and ships in the text, as well as the boisterous call-and-response t...

A powerfully emotive setting that contrasts moments of reflection with declamatory exultation, Psalm 57 uses passages from the eponymous psalm in the King James translation. Written in 1972, it is ded...

A fast and rhythmic arrangement of the traditional French Christmas carol Il est né, which includes the original French words as an alternative to sing. Offprinted from the Christmas cantata A Light i...

This celebratory carol on the popular fifteenth-century text is full of Christmas cheer. Jaunty, up-tempo, and in 7/8-time, it is an ideal opening for Christmas concerts and services.

Taking verses from Psalm 4, this text for Compline is set with delicate simplicity and contemplative musicality throughout.

This stirring Christmas song, setting a text by Kevin Crossley-Holland, combines bouncing rhythms, expressive Chilcott harmonies, and vibrant word-painting to depict the gifts brought to Christ's stab...

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...

In this energetic setting of a text by Kate Wakeling, McDowall employs crisp rhythms and imitative part-writing to evoke a hive's busy co-operative community. Listeners are encouraged to take inspirat...

Based on Virginia Woolf's Moments of Being and her diaries, One day walking i was commissioned by the Delegates of Oxford University Press in memory of Laura Marcus, Goldsmiths' Professor of English L...

This setting of George Herbert's poem 'Prayer' was commissioned by the Leicester Cathedral Music Foundation to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Leicester Cathedral Girls' Choir in 1974.The...

Painting vivid imagery of falling leaves through cascading layers of sound in the work's opening and closing, McDowall employs contrasting rhythmic unisons to heighten the impact of this evocative tex...

This setting of a parable by P. S. Beales depicts an encounter between God and three birds with different approaches to praise. The first birds employ modesty and fervour, mirrored in McDowall's music...

The Year of the Horse sets Kate Wakeling's beautiful image of a being of light gracefully moving through time. McDowall's lilting vocal lines express the text's encouragement to take notice of simple...

The Spacious Firmament 2: Yet we who neither burn nor shine is a sequel to The Spacious Firmament. Both pieces may be performed separately, but The Spacious Firmament should always come first if they...