Flowers Still Bloom

Guitarist–composer Michelle Nelson presents original works for solo guitar and concert ukulele, with harp and recorder duos, crowned by the eight-movement Isolation Suite written in Melbourne’s first Covid lockdown.

Megan Reeve harp
Will Hardy recorder
Michelle Nelson guitar, concert ukulele

Michelle Nelson composer

Recorded at Move in Eaglemont across 2019–2021, the set opens with two harp-and-guitar pieces written after her father’s death, a Spanish-tinged farewell for solo guitar, three concert-ukulele miniatures, and eight bagatelles with Will Hardy on recorder.

The Isolation Suite charts lockdown’s emotional arc from sudden solitude through tension and endurance to the hopeful title track as spring returns. Earlier Move releases of her music include Return to the Dance and After the Fire.

A set of related pieces composed mostly during Melbourne’s first Covid lockdown (April–May 2020) that represents the rollercoaster of emotions and stress induced by the sudden loss of livelihood and social connection.

1. Isolationist — Suddenly at home, unprepared to spend so much time alone; the suddenness produces a surprise sense of isolation and fragility …

2. Quietude — The traffic, the noise and all the rushing about suddenly ceases! As if the whole world falls suddenly quiet; and it’s an unexpected relief …

3. Steel Grey — The novelty is wearing thin. Surprise morphs into a struggle with boredom and pessimism. Grey, leaden skies reflect my mood …

4. Sunset Reflection — A break in the weather; a beautiful late Autumn afternoon. Amazing what a burst of sunshine does for the soul …

5. Rising Tensions — The ongoing lockdown, together with the ever-gloomier economic effects are now creating real tension and widespread unhappiness …

6. Anamnesis — Recollection; especially of a supposed previous life …

7. Endure — The longer a lockdown goes on the harder it is to maintain optimism. As weeks turn into months, fears grow, hopes fade; wait turns to grind …

8. Flowers Still Bloom — Early rays of hope; light at the end of the tunnel. Lockdown #1 ends but then, mere weeks later and just as suddenly as the first, a longer one begins … Spring arrives; a timely reminder that although gloom is all around, flowers still bloom …

— Michelle Nelson

As my father ebbed away in hospital, early 2018, one of the few things he enjoyed in his final weeks was the music-therapy harpist who moved quietly around the Cancer Ward playing gentle, soothing melodies for the sick and dying. The value of this service became apparent to my family at this time. This duo was composed shortly after the scattering of his ashes on a windy shoreline at Peterborough, Victoria in May 2018.

La despedida (The farewell) — A homage to the romantic Spanish guitar style of the late 19th–early 20th Century era, and a gesture of regret to all those whose life was, with little warning, cut short in the Covid years.

Short & Sweet – Three Pieces for Concert Ukulele — A triptych of short pieces that explore the solo capacity of the Concert/Tenor size Ukulele. The first features three-note (pmi) tremolo, the second a quirky ‘waltz’ regularly disrupted by bars of 5/8, and the third features the quicksilver ligado techniques common to solo guitar style.

Eight Bagatelles for Recorder & Guitar — A set of short, related pieces for Recorder and Guitar, two instruments that naturally balance one another.

— Michelle Nelson

Reviews

Her compositional style is very accessible, mostly tonal and very well-written for the instruments she employs. The CD opens with two pieces for guitar and harp: Falling Ashes and Floating Free … it is a delightful combination (of guitar and harp). Nelson’s Isolation Suite is a grouping of 8 related solo guitar pieces reflecting, as she puts it: ‘the rollercoaster of emotions and stress induced by the sudden loss of livelihood and social connection’. No doubt the lockdowns of the last two years will have inspired many other art works. Nelson’s response in this Isolation Suite is not all doom and gloom, with the second piece, Quietude, exploring the relief as the busy world slows and falls silent, and the fourth piece, Sunset Reflection, a jaunty finger-picking number. The seventh piece, Endure, expresses the frustration of lockdown with an incessantly repeated rhythmic figure, but the last: Flowers Still Bloom, is more hopeful …

— Clive Lane, classikON

Artist

Michelle Nelson

Michelle Nelson is a composer, guitarist and creative educator committed to developing instrumental works that are contemporary in voice yet draw on traditional composition practice.

Tracks

Two Pieces for Harp and Guitar Michelle Nelson

Falling Ashes 3:53
Floating Free 4:04
La despedida (The farewell) Michelle Nelson 4:09

Short & Sweet: Three Pieces for Concert Ukulele Michelle Nelson

Poco Allegro: expressivo e rubato 1:46
Vivace: quasi waltz style 1:37
Moderato: delicato e rubato 2:39

Isolation Suite for solo guitar Michelle Nelson

1. Isolationist 2:46
2. Quietude 2:13
3. Steel Grey 2:55
4. Sunset Reflection 1:13

Eight Bagatelles for Recorder and Guitar Michelle Nelson

Allegro :58
Poco allegro 1:23
Giocoso 1:17
Poco allegro e cantabile 1:01
Piacevole 2:22
Poco adagio 1:32
Animato 1:02
Allegro e sempre legato 1:23

Isolation Suite for solo guitar Michelle Nelson

5. Rising Tensions 1:18
6. Anamnesis 1:51
7. Endure 2:12
8. Flowers Still Bloom 2:19

Performers

Megan Reeve · tracks 1 and 2
Will Hardy · tracks 11–18
Michelle Nelson · guitar, concert ukulele

Where to listen

Flowers Still Bloom is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Flowers Still Bloom is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.