Spring Bloom

Duration: 2' 52"

Composed: April 2011

Dominic Sewell, orchestrator

Instrumentation

2 Flutes

2 Oboes

3 Bb Clarinets (3rd doubles Bass Cl)

2 Bassoons

4 Horns in F

2 Trumpets in Bb

2 Tenor Trombones

Bass Trombone

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion (3 players) (Mark Tree, Suspended Cymbals, Piatti, Triangle, Glockenspiel)

Harp

Celesta

Violin I (10)

Violin II (8)

Viola (8)

Cello (6)

Contrabass (4)

Composition Notes

I originally wrote this piece to accompany a clip from the "Seasonal Forests" episode of BBC's Planet Earth series. The clip tracks changes in nature from Winter to Spring to Fall. In the music I attempted to use different textures, instrumentation and energy to support what was happening on screen.

Performance Video

Melvin Tay, conductor
First performed on May 27, 2023 by the Northern Film Orchestra

"Fly on the Wall" of the Recording Session

This video offers a "fly on the wall" perspective of the 30 minute recording session. In this session we witness how the conductor works with 60+ musicians to record this piece of music they've never seen before from start to finish.

Music to Picture

I original composed this piece to accompany a clip from the "Seasonal Forests" episode of BBC's Planet Earth series. Here's the final orchestral recording combined with the Planet Earth footage.

Original Mockup

Here's the original mockup I created using sampled instruments back in 2011.