Cecilia McDowall - Good News from New England

This exciting work for choir and solo violin draws its title from Edward Winslow's 1624 chronicles, Good Newes from New England, in which he describes the Mayflower Pilgrims' settlement in the New World. The first movement sets William Bradford's account of the Pilgrims' arrival after their long, perilous journey. McDowall cleverly uses tonality to musically chart their voyage, with a gradually descending shift through keys. Bookended by folk-like violin passages, the second movement alludes to the Bay Psalm Book with its plain homophonic style, and McDowall introduces occasional dissonance to intensify the text's anguish. As its title, 'Thanksgiving', suggests, the final movement brings a sense of joyful release, with the violin in playful dialogue with the dance-like vocal lines. It closes with Henry Ainsworth's version of 'The Old Hundredth', which was sung on the Mayflower, and the audience is encouraged to join the choir in singing this hymn.