Oxford University Press is proud to publish musical works by some of the most significant composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a catalogue that includes a broad range of choral, orchestral and chamber music.
for SSAA, solo violin, and piano
Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo, here re-scored for upper voices, tells the extraordinary story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy forced by war to flee her home and embark on an arduous journey to Europe with her sister. In this five-movement cantata Nujeen's story - recounted in her biography 'The Girl from Aleppo' (co-authored by Christina Lamb) - is retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland and richly scored by Cecilia McDowall. A wealth of musical effects are employed to capture the narrative, including chorales, rhythmic spoken sections, body percussion, and a solo violin part infused with Middle Eastern flavours. The prevailing mood of Nujeen's story is embodied by the final line of a chorale that bookends this unique concert work: 'singing the song of life itself.'
Find out more here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/everyday-wonders-the-girl-from-aleppo-9780193533868
Cecilia
CeciliaMcDowallEverydayWonders: The Girl from Aleppo for online perusal only for SSA, solo violin, and piano vocal score B
Contents Text 4 1. Orphans of the World 7 2. Thousands milling at the border (The Journey) 29 3. I had never seen the sea before 40 4. A lost tribe pushed from border to border 47 5. EverydayWonders 53 Composer’s note for online perusal only Wherever one looks, innocent children are caught up in conflict. During these last years alone, thousands and thousands of child refugees have trekked from Syria to Turkey and on into Europe in search of asylum. One of these children was Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy. She was pushed in her wheelchair by her elder sister, Nasrine, from Aleppo to Germany. Unsurprisingly, her journey was the subject of much publicity and followed by journalists Christina Lamb (co-author of I am Malala) and Fergal Keane. Throughout many months, Nujeen remained stunningly brave, blithe, and articulate, never missing an opportunity to speak the language she had learned in a fourth-floor flat in Aleppo by watching American quiz shows, soaps, and cookery programmes. In this cantata Nujeen’s story unfolds in the musical narrative: chorales, haunting vocal solos, intense solo violin playing, restless choruses, and body percussion all drive a course from country to country to arrive, thankfully, in Germany. It is a journey of hope and extraordinary fortitude against all the odds. CeciliaMcDowall and Kevin Crossley-Holland EverydayWonders: The Girl from Aleppo was commissioned by the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain for its 20th anniversary and first performed by the Choirs in Birmingham Town Hall on 10 August 2018, with Harriet Mackenzie (violin) and Claire Dunham (piano), conducted by Dan Ludford-Thomas. Duration: c.18 minutes Also available: EverydayWonders: The Girl from Aleppo Solo Violin Part (ISBN 978–0–19–352484–2)
