Cecilia McDowall

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...

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 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...

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

Commissioned by Sonoro for the second instalment of their Choral Inspirations project, McDowall has composed Crucifixus Reimagined as a response to Lotti's Crucifixus from Credo in F. Use of suspensio...

Commissioned by King's College, Cambridge, for the 2021 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Cecilia McDowall's setting of this well-known fifteenth-century macaronic text is expressive and ethereal....

Characteristically sung on Christmas Day, this Catholic chant depicts mystery and wonder at the birth of Jesus, as witnessed by the animals. The second half of the text relates to words spoken by Eliz...

The O nata lux text is taken from a 10th-century anonymous hymn that uses the concept of light to symbolise hope, a particularly pertinent theme for Advent. Throughout this setting the sopranos intert...

On the Air (Dear Vaccine) discusses the optimism for a post-COVID world and, particularly, the desire to sing together again. For the text, poet Seán Street drew inspiration from 'Dear Vaccine', which...

A Gaelic Blessing was commissioned by the University of Edinburgh, McDowall's alma mater, for performance by the Edinburgh University Singers conducted by Calum Robertson. This meditative, folk-style...

Written in an a cappella style with scat accompaniment, "A Tree is a Song" is a joyful celebration of the connections and affinity found in nature and how wisdom and knowledge can be passed on 'as a m...

Esta obra gloriosa, sentida y, en ocasiones, angustiosa, presenta un texto premonitorio de Nicholas Andreas Vrenios, víctima del atentado de Lockerbie en 1988. McDowall emplea adornos vocales, disonan...

This glorious, heartfelt, and at times agonizing work sets a prescient text by Nicholas Andreas Vrenios, a victim of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. McDowall creates a haunting sound-world through voca...

Este introito, que recoge una colecta del Libro de Oración Común, juega con el uso característico de McDowall de la disonancia y las inflexiones modales para crear un mundo sonoro hipnótico y ligerame...

Setting a collect from the Book of Common Prayer, this introit plays on McDowall's characteristic use of dissonance and modal inflections to create a hypnotic and slightly unsettled soundworld that re...

La conmovedora Angel of the Battlefield de McDowall, encargada originalmente por el Coro de la Escuela de Arte de Glasgow como parte del proyecto Composeher, es a la vez una exposición de los horrores...

McDowall's moving and poignant setting of this three-movement work is both an exposition on the horrors of war and a celebration of healers. Inspired by renowned nurse Clara Barton, the text is drawn...

Escrita para celebrar el 950 aniversario de la iglesia de Santa María Magdalena de Oxford, esta convincente composición para doble coro de la Missa brevis es adecuada tanto para la liturgia como para...

Written to celebrate the 950th anniversary of St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, this compelling double-choir Missa brevis setting is suitable for liturgical and concert settings. The music is beautiful...

Written in response to Gibbons' famous setting of the same text from Psalm 47, this piece uses syncopated rhythms, imitative polyphonic textures, and declarative homophonic moments to create a piece f...

Bless to me this day is a tranquil setting of 'The Journey Prayer' from the Celtic compendium Carmina Gadelica. The sense of prescient optimism is captured in the flowing piano part, while the simplic...

Bless to me this day is a tranquil setting of 'The Journey Prayer' from the Celtic compendium Carmina Gadelica. The sense of prescient optimism is captured in the flowing piano part, while the simplic...