Composer Susie Vaughan broke 550 years of tradition when her music was performed by the choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, writes Andrew Ffrench.

Mrs Vaughan's composition Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis was commissioned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of women students being admitted to the college.

Her work was the first female composition for the choir in the college's 550-year history. President of the college, Tony Smith, thought it appropriate that a woman should compose a piece of music for the anniversary, and chose Mrs Vaughan.

Ten years ago, she took a postgraduate degree in music at Magdalen and was delighted to accept the commission.

The world premiere of her work took place at choral evensong on Saturday, in the college's chapel, led by soprano soloist Alycia Fashae. Mrs Vaughan, 34, who lives near Chipping Norton with her husband Justin, 34, and ten-month-old son Benjamin, said: "As a former postgraduate in music, I was delighted to accept the commission. I managed to combine looking after my son with completing the 11-minute composition. Dr Roger Hutchins, who organised the anniversary event, said: "Women are a very important part of the college now and it was entirely appropriate that a woman should compose this piece of music. We have had women singing in the chapel before but it is probably the first time that a woman has sung with the college choir for choral evensong, so it could be a double-first." Dr Hutchins said that in 1979, following the experiment of five Oxford colleges in 1975, about 24 more went mixed, allowing women to apply for undergraduate and graduate membership on merit alone.

That year, 23 per cent of admissions at Magdalen were women. Magdalen is now typical in admitting 45 to 47 per cent each year.