Cecilia McDowall on composing her cantata Bird of Time

Описание: Composer Cecilia McDowall shares the inspiration and process behind her cantata Bird of Time. With the exquisite beauty of birdsong at its heart, Bird of Time explores themes of sorrow, loss, and hope for a better future.

Music courtesy of Resonus Classics.

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About the Music

In this poignant three-movement work for soprano solo, SSATB, and piano or small ensemble, Cecilia McDowall sets texts by Indian political activist and poet Sarojini Naidu and frequent collaborator Seán Street. The opening movement is structured around questions posed to the 'Bird of Time' and features richly expressive instrumental interludes. A soprano soloist joins the choir for the second movement, which contrasts the optimism of a dawn chorus with a lament to the plight of the dwindling avian population. The energetic and playful closing movement explores the notion of a 'bird's-eye view' of how humans might appear to these airborne creatures.

About the Composer

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.

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Music:

• Cecilia McDowall’s Bird of Time
• The Choir of Royal Holloway
• Orchestra Nova
• George Vass, conductor
• Rowan Pierce, soprano

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© Oxford University Press