Celebrating the Use of Flower Imagery in
A Flower Triptych
by Leslie Schroerlucke, composer

A Flower Triptych celebrates the poetic use of flower imagery with choral settings of three English poems. The idea for the series was inspired by William Blake, who in his “Auguries of Innocence,” wrote,

To see a World in a Grain of Sand                                And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,                                  Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand                        And Eternity in an hour.

William Wordsworth echoes similar pious sentiments towards nature in several of his poems. In “Daffodils,” communion with a field of blooming flowers dissipates his loneliness and moves him to a blissful state.

John Keats refers to a “lonely, forlorn, flower reflected in a glassy pool” that symbolizes the ancient story of Narcissus, who failed to recognize Echo’s love for him because of his obsession with his own reflection. “The Narcissus” cites the seventh stanza from Keats’s 1817 poem, “Places of Nestling Green for Poets Made,” subtitled “The Story of Rimini,”dedicated to the Poet Leigh Hunt.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Flowers” transports the speaker back to the innocence of childhood and certainty in the existence of fairies. I have a great reverence for nature and find my own interaction with it both grounding and transcendental. My many retreats to nature provide solace, especially in challenging times. I believe that nature can provide many epiphanies if we only take time to observe and reflect.

Leslie Schroerlucke
about the composer

Leslie Schroerlucke earned a bachelor of music degree and performer’s certificate in clarinet performance from Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York; a master’s of music degree in clarinet performance from Florida State University, and a master’s degree in music education from Boston University. She enjoys a dual career as an orchestral clarinetist and a band director with Walnut Valley Unified School District in Diamond Bar, California. She serves on the faculty of the University of California at Riverside and Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

A native of central Massachusetts, Leslie resides in southern California  where she is an active performer in several musical communities. A Flower Triptych is her first published work.

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The pieces are great, I especially like the Daffodils. Cool tonality and meter changes. The Flowers is a perfect rhythmic setting of the meter of the poem, and the chorus is so catchy. It really feels like nostalgia for childhood. Narcissus aptly has the feel of a Greek chorus, I love the narrative quality. I’m impressed!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 —Rich Langham, choral director at Diamond Bar, California, High School