Floral Suite No. 1

For this one, I'm grateful to friend and fellow composer Phil Baker. Phil told me about an upcoming concert in which the Mistral Wind Quartet would play his captivating Stele Music, and I remember thinking that I might like to write something for that combination of instruments. Eventually, the idea came to write four short pieces inspired by flowers. How original, right? I can only imagine that a growing sense of nostalgia contributed to this decision... I grew up in Mallorca where bougainvillea, pink trumpet vine and plumbago can be found anywhere and everywhere. As for the inclusion of (Sussex) bluebells, I felt that they complemented the blue plumbago rather well. 

The suite virtually wrote itself and in record time for my standards. Some of the material was adapted from earlier works (I may discuss these at another time) but for the most part it was all the result of newly-found, frenzied inspiration. Of course, it helped that the pieces are, as Dale Cooper might describe them, brief and to the point, but nevertheless I'm really pleased with the result.