McDowall has long had a special gift for choral writing, and here she resourcefully combines upper voices with an SATB chorus . . . in settings of Kevin Crossley-Holland's text narrating the journey of two sisters (one pushing the other in a wheelchair) across the miles from Syria to asylum in Germany . . . The music bursts with compassion. * The Birmingham Post, August 2018 * [The Girl from Aleppo] contains some memorable images and phrases, starting with the very first line: 'This wreath of words is what we have', which is recalled in the closing pages . . . Cecilia McDowall has won a reputation as a leading composer of choral music and her extensive catalogue contains many distinguished examples. The emotional heft of this story has clearly inspired her to produce one of her most striking scores for the medium. Perhaps it was the liberating experience of writing for children that encouraged her to experiment with dramatic elements such as body slaps, spoken 'gunfire', imitations of the swish of the sea and extended background murmuring depicting crowds on the borders . . . The sung material was also diverse and imaginatively deployed . . . Cecilia McDowall's music always communicates directly with the listener and this layered and nuanced new work is among her most compelling and uplifting scores. * Paul Conway, Musical Opinion, January 2019 *