A Maid peerless (1931), initially composed for upper voices and small orchestra, was later revised for upper voices and piano for the 1951 National Competitive Music Festival, where it served as a test piece for women’s choirs. Howells would subsequently revise the orchestrated version again in 1971. Its intricate counterpoint and unsettled tonality propel the music toward an ecstatic climax at ‘Of Virgins Queen, / Lodestar of Light’—a moment that foreshadows later, more significant choral works such as Hymnus Paradisi (completed in 1938). Howells also referenced this passage in the ‘Eia mater’ movement of his Stabat mater (completed in 1965)—another Marian text, though now imbued with grief. The intensity and rapture of A Maid peerless are heightened by its concise, taut structure and the technical demands placed on the vocalists.

from notes by Tom Edney © 2025