Stabat Mater: Vocal Score

ISBN-13: 9780193400498 / Angielski

Cecilia McDowall

Opis

for baritone solo, SATB chorus, children's choir (or semi-chorus), and small orchestra (or piano/organ) McDowall's setting of the Stabat Mater has been described as 'an outstanding work of great solemnity and poignancy' (Tempo, 2013). The work comprises seven movements in a symmetrical structure-from the impassioned choral opening, through two intense yet diverse baritone solos and contemplative plainchant chorales, to the stately finale uniting all the voices. The optimistic central movement, in a major tonality, may be performed by children's choir or a semi-chorus of sopranos and altos from the main group. A plaintive meditation on the sorrows of the Virgin Mary as she stands by the Cross, McDowall's Stabat Mater is a sophisticated modern alternative to more well-known settings, ideal for performance at non-liturgical Lenten services. The piano reduction in the score, which can be adapted for organ, may be used for concert performance if an orchestra is not available.

Recenzje

It is signature McDowall, accessible singable music, sensitive to the text, its outward simplicity offset by softly insistent dissonance that gives character and substance to the score.

O autorze

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.