Photo: Andrew
Photo: Andrew McDowall A Time for all Seasons is an evocative cantata that explores the complexities of the human condition. The well-known To every thing there is a season text from Ecclesiastes is interwoven with a modern-day reworking of the verses by award-winning poet Kevin Crossley-Holland. McDowall’s impressive range of musical styles, effective antiphonal writing, and artful juxtaposition of textures work together to create a meaningful experience for the listener. The work’s scoring contributes to the narrative, with sections for solo soprano or full choir contrasting with prescient interjections from the uppervoice choir. The part for upper voices may also be sung by a children’s choir, and there is an optional part for percussion. Born in 1951 and educated at Edinburgh and London Universities, Cecilia McDowall has been described by the International Record Review as having a ‘communicative gift that is very rare in modern music’. An award-winning composer, McDowall is often inspired by extra-musical influences, and her choral writing combines rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism. Her music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by leading choirs, among them the BBC Singers and the Choir of New College, Oxford, and is regularly programmed at prestigious festivals in Britain and abroad. A Time for all Seasons CECILIA McDOWALL Cover image: April, May, and June, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Musée Condé, Chantilly. © World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 1 ISBN 978-0-19-341148-7 9 780193 411487
