This piece was written in May-June 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, when many of us were becoming more aware of the sights and sounds of nature around us. In particular I was intrigued by our local blackbirds, each of which seemed to have a song of its own. The song I heard one evening in our village churchyard was particularly striking in melody and rhythm, and I notated it when I got home.
The blackbird's song, however, does not enter the piece in full until bar 27, after a slow introduction which includes the Gregorian chant 'Veni Creator Spiritus'. Part of the chant appears again at the end, where it is intertwined with the balckbird's song.
