Description
Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo 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.'
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
McDowall has long had a special gift for choral writing, and here she resourcefully combines upper voices with an SATB chorus . . . in settings of Kevin Crossley-Holland's text narrating the journey of two sisters (one pushing the other in a wheelchair) across the miles from Syria to asylum in Germany . . . The music bursts with compassion. * The Birmingham Post, August 2018 *
[The Girl from Aleppo] contains some memorable images and phrases, starting with the very first line: 'This wreath of words is what we have', which is recalled in the closing pages . . . Cecilia McDowall has won a reputation as a leading composer of choral music and her extensive catalogue contains many distinguished examples. The emotional heft of this story has clearly inspired her to produce one of her most striking scores for the medium. Perhaps it was the liberating experience of writing for children that encouraged her to experiment with dramatic elements such as body slaps, spoken 'gunfire', imitations of the swish of the sea and extended background murmuring depicting crowds on the borders . . . The sung material was also diverse and imaginatively deployed . . . Cecilia McDowall's music always communicates directly with the listener and this layered and nuanced new work is among her most compelling and uplifting scores. * Paul Conway, Musical Opinion, January 2019 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193522589
Author Cecilia McDowall
Page Count 64
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 224g
Dimensions(mm) 284mm * 219mm * 5mm
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
McDowall has long had a special gift for choral writing, and here she resourcefully combines upper voices with an SATB chorus . . . in settings of Kevin Crossley-Holland's text narrating the journey of two sisters (one pushing the other in a wheelchair) across the miles from Syria to asylum in Germany . . . The music bursts with compassion. * The Birmingham Post, August 2018 *
[The Girl from Aleppo] contains some memorable images and phrases, starting with the very first line: 'This wreath of words is what we have', which is recalled in the closing pages . . . Cecilia McDowall has won a reputation as a leading composer of choral music and her extensive catalogue contains many distinguished examples. The emotional heft of this story has clearly inspired her to produce one of her most striking scores for the medium. Perhaps it was the liberating experience of writing for children that encouraged her to experiment with dramatic elements such as body slaps, spoken 'gunfire', imitations of the swish of the sea and extended background murmuring depicting crowds on the borders . . . The sung material was also diverse and imaginatively deployed . . . Cecilia McDowall's music always communicates directly with the listener and this layered and nuanced new work is among her most compelling and uplifting scores. * Paul Conway, Musical Opinion, January 2019 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193522589
Author Cecilia McDowall
Page Count 64
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 224g
Dimensions(mm) 284mm * 219mm * 5mm
