Cecilia McDowall Music of the Stars
for SATB and piano or strings and percussion Music of the Stars offers an enlightening commentary on the power of music to console and uplift in challenging times. Characterful string writing accompanies the engaging vocal lines, with McDowall artfully employing vibraphone, glockenspiel, and suspended cymbal to sprinkle a touch of celestial sparkle throughout the score. An excerpt from a folksong from Ukraine is woven into the first movement's gentle setting of Kenyan poet Brian Odongo's atmospheric depiction of the music of the ancient stars that watch over humanity below. The second, up-tempo movement presents American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's absorbing explanation of 'light' and how we perceive it. Lastly, the affirmatory final movement sets American writer James Weldon Johnson's well-known text 'The Gift to Sing', drawing the piece to a close with the emphatic, joyful statement: 'And I can sing'.
for SATB and piano or strings and percussion
Music of the Stars offers an enlightening commentary on the power of music to console and uplift in challenging times. Characterful string writing accompanies the engaging vocal lines, with McDowall artfully employing vibraphone, glockenspiel, and suspended cymbal to sprinkle a touch of celestial sparkle throughout the score. An excerpt from a folksong from Ukraine is woven into the first movement's gentle setting of Kenyan poet Brian Odongo's atmospheric depiction of the music of the ancient stars that watch over humanity below. The second, up-tempo movement presents American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's absorbing explanation of 'light' and how we perceive it. Lastly, the affirmatory final movement sets American writer James Weldon Johnson's well-known text 'The Gift to Sing', drawing the piece to a close with the emphatic, joyful statement: 'And I can sing'.
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Photo: Karina Lyburn<br />
<strong>Music</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Stars</strong> <strong>of</strong>fers an enlightening commentary on <strong>the</strong> power <strong>of</strong> music to console and<br />
uplift in challenging times. Characterful string writing accompanies <strong>the</strong> engaging vocal<br />
lines, with <strong>McDowall</strong> artfully employing vibraphone, glockenspiel, and suspended cymbal<br />
to sprinkle a touch <strong>of</strong> celestial sparkle throughout <strong>the</strong> score. An excerpt from a folksong<br />
from Ukraine is woven into <strong>the</strong> first movement’s gentle setting <strong>of</strong> Kenyan poet Brian<br />
Odongo’s atmospheric depiction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> music <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ancient stars that watch over humanity<br />
below. The second, up-tempo movement presents American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse<br />
Tyson’s absorbing explanation <strong>of</strong> ‘light’ and how we perceive it. Lastly, <strong>the</strong> affirmatory final<br />
movement sets American writer James Weldon Johnson’s well-known text ‘The Gift to Sing’,<br />
drawing <strong>the</strong> piece to a close with <strong>the</strong> emphatic, joyful statement: ‘And I can sing’.<br />
Award-winning composer <strong>Cecilia</strong> <strong>McDowall</strong> is perhaps best known<br />
for her choral works, with <strong>the</strong>ir distinctive fusion <strong>of</strong> fluent melodic<br />
lines with occasional dissonance and rhythmic exuberance. Her<br />
music has been commissioned and performed worldwide by leading<br />
ensembles, including <strong>the</strong> BBC Singers, The Sixteen, and Oxford and<br />
Cambridge choirs. In 2020 The Ivors Academy presented <strong>McDowall</strong><br />
with <strong>the</strong> prestigious Ivor Novello Award for a ‘consistently excellent<br />
body <strong>of</strong> work’. She was commissioned to write a carol for <strong>the</strong> Choir<br />
<strong>of</strong> King’s College, Cambridge, as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir 2021 Festival <strong>of</strong> Nine<br />
Lessons and Carols, which was broadcast worldwide.<br />
<strong>Music</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Stars</strong> McDOWALL<br />
Cover image: Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night Over <strong>the</strong> Rhône, 1888. Musée d’Orsay, Paris/Wikimedia<br />
ISBN 978-0-19-356428-2<br />
www.oup.com<br />
9 780193 564282
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