Music of the Stars

for SATB and piano or strings and percussion
Music of the Stars offers an enlightening commentary on the power of music to console and uplift in challenging times. Characterful string writing accompanies the engaging vocal lines, with McDowall artfully employing vibraphone, glockenspiel, and suspended cymbal to sprinkle a touch of celestial sparkle throughout the score. An excerpt from a folksong from Ukraine is woven into the first movement's gentle setting of Kenyan poet Brian Odongo's atmospheric depiction of the music of the ancient stars that watch over humanity below. The second, up-tempo movement presents American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's absorbing explanation of 'light' and how we perceive it. Lastly, the affirmatory final movement sets American writer James Weldon Johnson's well-known text 'The Gift to Sing', drawing the piece to a close with the emphatic, joyful statement: 'And I can sing'.