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.

Her setting of the Magnificat is quite splendid, in that it 'grows' in intensity as the text progresses; by the time of the concluding chorus, Deposuit potentes, a genuine sense of exultation (without exaggeration) has been achieved. International Record Review, March 2005 This graceful, reflective work adorned with deft, Baroque flourishes, has already been recorded by the Canterbury Chamber Choir ... and their assured singing radiated with the confidence of a team with this elegant choral piece in their blood. Tempo 2006 Comes highly recommended for choral societies looking for something a bit different that isn't the Mozart Requiem but won't scare off the audience. It's an uplifting and interesting setting. The choral parts present no technical difficulty; the textures are fresh, harmonically uncomplicated and with an admiral balance between contrapuntal and homophonic writing - clearly rewarding to prepare and perform. The soloists are presented with more challenging material and an appealing and imaginative duet, Fecit potentiam, with fearless dissonances. Patric Standford, Choir & Organ, June 09

• Magnificat ; Ecce enim ex hoc beatam ; Quia fecit mihi magna ; Et misericordia ; Fecit potentiam ; Deposuit potentes