McDowall's poignant Angel of the Battlefield, originally commissioned by the Glasgow School of Art Choir as part of the Composeher project, is both an exposition on the horrors of war and a celebration of healers. Inspired by renowned nurse Clara Barton, who cared for Union soldiers during the American Civil War, this piece's text is drawn from Barton's own words, the poetry of Séan Street, and the African American spiritual There is a balm in Gilead.

The first movement sets the scene, in...