OUP Women Composers Orchestral, Opera, Chamber, Instrumental and Choral Catalogue

Cecilia McDowall

Cecilia McDowall Candlemas SSATB and organ Vocal score 9780193396982 McDowall’s Candlemas is a celebratory and powerful piece. Making use of choral divisions and suspensions, and a dynamic organ part, this setting of Denise Levertov’s text is reverent, yet joyous, and is ideal for a liturgical setting. 5 minutes Cecilia, Busy Like a Bee Soprano solo and SSATB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193413757 Cecilia, Busy Like a Bee is a reflective and reverential setting of a text adapted from the Divine Office for St Cecilia’s Day. The influence of plainchant is particularly apparent in the soprano solo, and McDowall intersperses effective imitative passages amidst homophonic writing with rich harmonies. 5.5 minutes Celestial Fire SSATB and organ Vocal score 9780193396999 The hymn ‘Come, Holy Ghost’ lies at the heart of Celestial Fire. Here, McDowall has woven the exquisite poetry of Denise Levertov into this expressive and uplifting piece. At times quietly meditative, Celestial Fire unfolds to a most joyous, affirmative conclusion. 4 minutes De Profundis (Night Raid) SSATB and organ Vocal score 9780193522954 Digital 9780193538375 This atmospheric anthem commemorates the First World War. It sets a stark English text by Dr Joseph Spence alongside Latin text from Psalm 130, with the words ‘In memoriam’ added. The lower parts sing Spence’s English text, conveying the relentless hardship of life in the trenches with declamatory and constantly developing vocal lines. The sopranos, meanwhile, repeat the Latin words from Psalm 130, providing a striking contrast in their constancy and otherworldliness. 5.5 minutes Deus, portus pacis SSATB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193368347 This anthem sets a medieval English poem to contemplative music with all the hallmarks of McDowall’s style: expressive melismas, well-placed astringent harmonies, and a strong modal feel. 5.5 minutes Easter Light SATB and organ Vocal score 9780193415713 Digital 9780193537095 With a newly written text by Angier Brock, this compelling anthem is a welcome addition to the traditional Easter repertoire. Easter Light explores a variety of styles and colours, from organ solos suggestive of the song of the Eastern meadowlark to a meditative section in the manner of plainchant. 4.5 minutes A Gaelic Blessing SSATB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193564831 This meditative, folk-style anthem is given a Scottish lilt through the use of Scotch snap rhythms and held dronelike vocal lines. McDowall chose to set this traditional Scottish Gaelic Blessing for the ‘warmth and simplicity’ of the words that seem to ‘resonate with the times in which we live’. 3 minutes God be with us SATB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193543904 Digital 9780193543928 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 or concerts. Also published in Breath of Song. 2.5 minutes 48

God is Light SSATB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193415652 God is Light sets lines from Psalm 139, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 John. It moves from an unsettled tonality at the beginning, through anguished false relations and wistful expressivity, to find triumphant resolution in a blazing A major at the end. Like all of McDowall’s music, it is well crafted and singable. 5 minutes I know that my redeemer liveth SSA(A)TB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193417557 Digital 9780193537217 This attractive motet was written for performance alongside Brahms’s Requiem, following the precedent of Handel’s famous setting of the same text being sung at the premiere of the Requiem in 1868. The gracefully sculpted music clothes the text with touching melodies, expressive harmonies, and varied sonorities. 4.5 minutes I obey thee, O Lord (Lacrimosa) SATB (with divisions) and piano or organ Vocal score 9780193529052 Digital 9780193531673 The third movement of McDowall’s powerful Da Vinci Requiem, ‘I obey thee, O Lord’ is a compelling pairing of the ‘Lacrimosa’ text from the Latin Missa pro defunctis with extracts from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, and has a poignant, tender simplicity. The composer has reworked the keyboard part from the parent work to facilitate performance by piano or organ. 4.5 minutes Jesu, the very thought of thee SSAATTBB and organ Vocal score 9780193378346 This poignant anthem was originally composed to be sung at a funeral. It is a beautifully composed work, sufficiently sombre for such an occasion, but with a celebratory element that is uplifting and comforting. 8.5 minutes Light Eternal SSATB, organ, and opt. tubular bell or handbell Vocal score 9780193394698 Light Eternal brings together the liturgical text for Remembrance, Lux Aeterna, and the evocative poetry of Denise Levertov. Commissioned as part of a trilogy, Light Eternal has a haunting and exotic quality, the music beautifully illustrating the sense of the texts. Suitable for Remembrance and other occasions of solemn commemoration. 4 minutes The Lord is Good Two soprano soloists and SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193382657 This engagingly written piece sets the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The overlapping passages of music passed between the soloists and the choir create a dramatic effect, whilst the harmonic language gives the music a sense of regret. 5 minutes Love Incorruptible SSATB unaccompanied Vocal score 9780193524194 Digital 9780193538511 Love Incorruptible sets words from Ephesians that explore the themes of love and kindness. The anthem begins with the directive ‘Let all bitterness and wrath and anger be put away, awake!’, set in a way that engenders a mood of reflection and hopefulness. The tender central section is built around the words ‘Be kind, tender-hearted, one to another’, while the closing section presents a compelling contrast of emphatic ‘awake!’ declarations in the upper voices and punchily rhythmic repetitions of the titular words in the lower voices. 4 minutes Cecilia McDowall 49