Sheet Music by Female Composers: A Rich and Diverse Selection

With a newly written text by Angier Brock, this compelling anthem by Cecilia McDowall is a welcome addition to the traditional Easter repertoire. Easter Light explores a variety of styles and colours,...

Inspired by A. E. Borthwick's painting of the same title, The Presence sets lines from Psalms 18, 27, 36, 112, and 119 mainly concerned with light. While suitable for services and concerts throughout...

This Advent carol is based on words from John Donne's Holy Sonnets. McDowall creates a captivating atmosphere as the voices explore a mystical soundworld. The sensitive part-writing and accessible voc...

This anthem sets biblical words that explore love and kindness. The opening section creates a mood of hopefulness, and the central section is built around the words 'Be kind, tender-hearted, one to an...

An atmospheric setting of Caliban's dream from The Tempest, this piece transports the listener to a dream-like place. McDowall's immersive harmonies and ornamentation perfectly characterise the reveri...

I will be with you sets a reflective text by the composer with a message of enduring solace. Lush harmonies, with predominantly homophonic passagework, coupled with flowing and cascading lines in ever...

In this beautiful, atmospheric arrangement of Franz Gruber's 'Silent night' Sarah Quartel employs choral divisi and unexpected harmonies to create a lush bed of sound over which the soprano duet soars...

This is an evocative setting of a powerful text by Seán Street describing the call for assistance made by the occupied Channel Islands in 1944 and the response of the Red Cross ship, the Vega, which c...

This setting of A Spotless Rose reflects the wintry starkness of the fifteenth-century text through its minor key and bare upper-voice opening, while the warmth of the full voicing on the words 'light...

McGlade's setting of 'The Call' by George Herbert is simple but effective, reflecting the directness of the original poem. The three-bar phrases create a feeling of expectancy throughout the verses, a...

This is a beautiful and dynamic setting of well-known words from the Song of Songs (or Song of Soloman). With a soaring soprano melody, McGlade's fluid vocal lines drive harmonic twists within an imme...

This is a beautiful and dynamic setting of well-known words from the Song of Songs (or Song of Soloman). With a soaring soprano melody, McGlade's fluid vocal lines drive harmonic twists within an imme...

TaReKiTa is a refreshing concert piece that effortlessly blends the Indian and Western classical styles. The composer's scats are combined with a fast triple metre, vocal slides, and captivating melod...

This is a warm and tender piece setting the last three verses of Christina Rossetti's 'What good shall my life do me?', which encourages leading a life of love as an example for others. Daley's heartf...

This is a warm and tender piece setting the last three verses of Christina Rossetti's 'What good shall my life do me?', which encourages leading a life of love as an example for others. Daley's heartf...

Composed for International Women's Day, this mesmerising piece celebrates the centennary of Rosalind Franklin and sets her own words with additional text by the poet Seán Street. McDowall's tribute to...

This a cappella setting of evocative words by E. Pauline Johnson is immediately appealing, with its playful, swinging syncopations and dancing scat accompaniment. Also available in a version for SSAA...

This a beautiful and meditative setting of a translated text from Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Gaelic hymns, prayers, and other texts. With gentle suspensions and exquisite harmonies, this anthem...

This uplifting anthem sets the Invocation text from Carmina Gadelica. McDowall's beautiful melodies flow and intertwine, decorated by scotch snaps that reflect the text's origin. Suitable for services...

This uplifting anthem sets the Invocation text from Carmina Gadelica. McDowall's beautiful melodies flow and intertwine, decorated by scotch snaps that reflect the text's origin. Suitable for services...

Introduced by the children's choir, Quartel's simple and uplifting melody repeats throughout the piece, beautifully coloured by the surrounding parts. The voices offer joyful praise and the rich harmo...

My song is love unknown is an expressive and fluid setting of the well-known Lenten text by Samuel Crossman. McGlade highlights the phrase 'take frail flesh and die' with a sighing musical motif, befo...

My song is love unknown is an expressive and fluid setting of the well-known Lenten text by Samuel Crossman. McGlade highlights the phrase 'take frail flesh and die' with a sighing musical motif, befo...

Originally published in The Ivy and the Holly, Andrew's polymetric setting of this traditional text is evocative and energetic, with sustained vocalizations and creative melodies that bounce around th...

From the collection Love Songs, 'Dear Love' sets a text by American writer Willa Cather. Scored for SATB unaccompanied, this meditation on the universality of love features rich, lucid harmonies and c...