My music album, Blossom - nature, love and adventures
My music album, Blossom, aims to capture reflections on nature, relationships, travel, and dreams following the release of my previous album, Impetus. Like the music in Impetus, the music in Blossom is composed for violin, cello and piano ensembles. I composed the music in this album mostly during lockdown, a very unique time in everyone's lives. Despite the period being uncertain, I am very grateful that I was able to use my quiet time to write more music.
Shirley Ly's 'Blossom' - A Symphony of Nature, Love, and Magic, London classical music composer, UK female composer, female composer, female classical composer, UK's classical composer
During lockdown, with the quiet time I had, I would use this to go for long walks in the countryside and explore nature (I was lucky to have been able to stay with my partner in Oxfordshire away from the busier London). I absolutely adore nature - nature is filled with so much life, beauty and wisdom. I naturally feel uplifted in the presence of nature i.e. delicate blossoms at Spring Time, dense forests in the countryside, swans swimming in the lake at night etc. Moments spent in nature have inspired my pieces i.e. Blossom to capture the delicacy and transcience of blossoms in Spring, Midnight Swans to capture the moments I saw when idling swans were swimming in a lake at midnight, Vagabond's Tale to capture the feeling of wandering in the forests, Sailing Waters to capture my longing for sailing, Waltz in the Snow to capture the fantasy of dancing in white snow at night.
During this time, I also really missed by family. My compositions, Falling Leaves (falling leaves always return to their roots) and Virtually are pieces written to show the love I have for family, and how much unconditional love they have for me. I thought a lot about my grandfather, Tian Chen who passed away and how gifted he was - I often read his poems and look at his paintings to remind myself of him. This has led to my composition, Easterly Winds.
I also managed to adopt a pregnant cat, Miaow Miaow during lockdown, which would not have been possible if it wasn't for lockdown as I wouldn't have been at home to allow her to visit my place. She subsequently gave birth to 4 kitties, which I kept as I couldn't bear to see them separated. The introduction of cats in my life was an absolute blessing and have inspired me in ways that I cannot imagine - cats have improved my mental health and made me a happier person, I've found myself to be more creative helping them solve problems and also creating music inspired by cats. A piece I've written about cats is Carnival of the Cats, which aims to showcase the charm, fun and mischief of cats particularly during the early hours of mornings when I am asleep.
Blossom is not simply a music album for me, but it's a journal of my life going through lockdown. I hope you enjoy my album Blossom. Feel free to download the album below. London UK classical music composer
