Sacred Flowers (2001)

I. Jasmine II. Blackberry III. Sunflowers and Marigolds.
Sacred Flowers was premiered at the November 2001 Sacred Music Festival, and was composed especially for the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra. The piece is in three movements: I. Jasmine II. Blackberry and III. Sunflowers and Marigolds. It is scored for 4 Chinese instruments - erhu, pipa, yangqin and ruan - plus 2 Japanese instruments - koto and shakuhachi - and western chamber orchestra. The form of the piece is a baroque style concerto grosso with the ethnic instruments as soloists. The title of the piece uses the image of a flower (an image common to everyone) as a musical offering to harmony and peace in the world.

Mark Armanini