Blossomings

Blossomings was composed in 2016 for the BBC Singers, conductor Martyn Brabbins and trumpet virtuoso Marco Blaauw, as a tribute to the late English composer Jonathan Harvey. Harvey was deeply involved in Buddhism, coming from a Christian background, and he often sought to make a connection between these two religions through his music. Henderickx wanted to go one step further in this work and chose texts from three different eras, cultures and world religions. In the first text, he used a prayer by Jigme Lingpa from 18th-century Tibetan Buddhism. The second prayer was written by Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval German abbess, mystic, author and composer from 12th-century Roman Catholicism, and the third text comes from Rumi, a Persian poet and Sufi mystic from 13th-century Islam. The music is also inspired by these different eras and cultures. With this work, the composer wants to emphasise the beauty of different cultures and reconciliation. A double-cup trumpet provides introductions and commentaries on the text, sung by the mixed choir. The sound of the trumpet can also be seen as an invocation of the master (Jonathan Harvey). The (optional) electronics create a sonorous background for the harmonic material sung by the choir. This gives the work a spatial character. Blossomings (3 Prayers for a Better World) ends with the opening material of the third text, combined with a musical motif inspired by the name of Jonathan Harvey. Articles about this premiere appeared in the British press (Classical Music Magazine and Classical Diary (a text by Wim as a text blogger). In 2018, BLOSSOMINGS for mixed choir and trumpet was selected by the Estonian Composers Union to be performed at the World Music Days 2019 in Tallinn on 4 May 2019, by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Indrek Vau (trumpet) in St Nicholas' Church in Tallinn. In 2018, Wim Henderickx also made a version for mixed choir, clarinet and optional electronics.