Description
for SATB and organ Written for the Choir of The Cathedral of St John, Albuquerque, Ash Wednesday sets typically fervent verses by Christina Rossetti. The vocal lines are mostly simple and affecting, with some highly individual harmonies, while the organ part is by turns expressive and showy.
About the Author
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, The Sixteen, and Oxford and Cambridge choirs and is regularly programmed at prestigious festivals in Britain and abroad. In 2017 McDowall was selected for an Honorary Fellow award by the Royal School of Church Music.
Reviews
I am also very taken by Cecilia McDowall's Ash Wednesday . . . The musical language is of no great difficulty, and strong but economical structure is achieved by small musical cells which are allowed to grow through the piece. I am reminded of Herbert Howells's harmonic language in the more up-tempo central section. Here again the organist plays a major role in a piece suitable for any penitential occasion. * Jeremy Jackman, Choir & Organ, July 2019 *
McDowall sets the poem [by Christina Rossetti] in a clear ternary form, with the outer sections establishing a quietly plaintive atmosphere . . . After an expansive exposition, the music shifts dramatically to an up-tempo forte section with agitated, restless organ figuration . . . The work ends quietly with an augmentation of the principal motives in both choir and organ. This haunting work is of only moderate difficulty and would infuse any Ash Wednesday liturgy with intense solemnity that is nonetheless striking in its beauty. * Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, March 2019 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193524200
Author Cecilia McDowall
Page Count 16
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 36g
Dimensions(mm) 255mm * 178mm * 1mm
About the Author
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, The Sixteen, and Oxford and Cambridge choirs and is regularly programmed at prestigious festivals in Britain and abroad. In 2017 McDowall was selected for an Honorary Fellow award by the Royal School of Church Music.
Reviews
I am also very taken by Cecilia McDowall's Ash Wednesday . . . The musical language is of no great difficulty, and strong but economical structure is achieved by small musical cells which are allowed to grow through the piece. I am reminded of Herbert Howells's harmonic language in the more up-tempo central section. Here again the organist plays a major role in a piece suitable for any penitential occasion. * Jeremy Jackman, Choir & Organ, July 2019 *
McDowall sets the poem [by Christina Rossetti] in a clear ternary form, with the outer sections establishing a quietly plaintive atmosphere . . . After an expansive exposition, the music shifts dramatically to an up-tempo forte section with agitated, restless organ figuration . . . The work ends quietly with an augmentation of the principal motives in both choir and organ. This haunting work is of only moderate difficulty and would infuse any Ash Wednesday liturgy with intense solemnity that is nonetheless striking in its beauty. * Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, March 2019 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193524200
Author Cecilia McDowall
Page Count 16
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 36g
Dimensions(mm) 255mm * 178mm * 1mm
