for SSATB with divisions, unaccompanied Cecilia McDowall's fresh and appealing style is amply displayed in this cycle, subtitled Three Shakespeare Songs and first performed by the BBC Singers. In total, six Shakespeare texts are used, and McDowall's response encompasses a fleet-footed impression of Scottish fiddle music, a gorgeously plangent slow movement, and a helter-skelter finale that broadens to a mysteriously pitchless ending. Also available for SSAA.

for soprano solo, upper voices, SSATB, piano, and optional percussion 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...

for SSA and organ This concise Latin mass setting is entirely suitable for liturgical use, but the sharply delineated characters of the different movements make it also an appealing concert work. The organ part is supportive, but full of interest and not merely accompanimental. Particularly memorable are the jaunty Gloria, with its constantly shifting time-signatures, and the haunting Agnus Dei.

for soprano solo, SSATB, and organ As Each Leaf Dances is a setting of a powerful text by Kevin Crossley-Holland about the cruelty of child abuse being overcome by love and kindness. Reflecting this, the first section features a relentless organ part, jagged vocal lines, and dissonant harmonies, before giving way to a jaunty, dancing, and uplifting second section.

for soprano solo and SSATB unaccompanied Cecilia, Busy Like a Bee is a reflective and reverential setting of a text adapted from the Divine Office for St Cecilia's Day. The influence of plainchant is particularly apparent in the soprano solo, and McDowall intersperses effective imitative passages amidst homophonic writing with rich harmonies.

for SSATB unaccompanied Commissioned by Ralph Woodward and the Fairhaven Singers in memory of Dora Kemp, one of the choir's sopranos, God is Light sets lines from Psalm 139, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 John. It moves from an unsettled tonality at the beginning, through anguished false relations and wistful expressivity, to find triumphant resolution in a blazing A major at the end. Like all of McDowall's music, it is well crafted and singable. God is Light was first performed on 12 November 2016 in Queens' College Chapel, Cambridge, by the Fairheaven Singers and Perse Prep Senior Choir (director...

This delicate, spring-like poem, by poet Kevin Crossley-Holland, is an affectionate salutation to a newborn babe. The poet tells that the parents couldn't decide on a name for their baby, and that instead of imposing an inappropriate name on her, they will welcome her into the garden of the world and wait for her to 'declare' herself. After a hushed introduction of whispered welcomes, the voices burst into a dance-like song in celebration of the new arrival's homecoming.

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. It sets a specially-written text by Kevin Crossley-Holland and is in five movements: 'Orphans of the World' is centred on Nujeen's life in Aleppo; 'Thousands milling at the border', 'I had never seen the sea before', and 'A lost tribe pushed from border to border' depict a refugee's perilous route across borders and waters; and 'Everyday Wonders', in which the teenager reflects...