Bloom

Commissioned by Victoria Robey OBE for Elena Urioste and Tom Poster, premiered as part of #UriPosteJukeBox. Written during the UK Coronavirus lockdown, this little piece takes inspiration from the blossom on local fruit trees that I have watched developing and blooming in the past weeks. I have taken comfort from paying really close attention to nature in the Close where I live on the outskirts of Bedford, closely watching the daily changes, and hope the meditative effect this has had on me comes across in the piece. When writing, I simply had the idea of a slowly opening bud in my mind, and in the music this is reflected in the piano chords, which gradually cover more and more of the piano! Other than that, I simply wanted to write a beautiful melody... Tom and Elena had warned me that, due to the lockdown, the piano couldn't be tuned, and I did bear this in mind when writing, avoiding intervals like fifths and octaves in the music, instead piling thirds on top of thirds to create a ultra-majory- major harmony that I hope can be played without aural irritation on slightly out- of-tune home pianos anywhere at this time... I'm so grateful to Elena and Tom for asking me to write this little piece, and to be part of their #UriPosteJukeBox collection! Thank you too to Victoria Robey OBE who has generously sponsored this commission. —Cheryl Frances-Hoad, 2020