Orkney composer creates music for Platinum Jubilee superbloom at Tower of London

An Orkney composer’s unique work is set to be the soundtrack of the floral transformation of the Tower of London as part of the celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Erland Cooper’s specially written Music for Growing Flowers will help soften the hustle and bustle of city life as visitors explore the Superbloom installation this summer, where 20 million flowers are set to fill the Tower’s moat.

The contemporary composer, originally from Stromness, said the music “aims to enhance the Superbloom’s emotional impact by rebalancing the dominant city noises and intertwining specific audio frequencies to uncover harmony in the most bustling environments”.

“Since music itself is nothing more than vibrations, perhaps it will help us enter more deeply into this subtle appreciation of place, curiosity and calm,” he said.

Superbloom, marking the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, is named after a rare, natural phenomenon where whole landscapes are transformed into sheets of vibrant flowers.

Happening only once every few decades, Superblooms occur when favourable weather patterns coincide and activate dormant seeds.

But groundskeepers for the installation in the heart of the UK’s capital are set to re-create such a phenomenon for the Queen’s jubilee year.

From June to September, Music for Growing Flowers will have three spatial mixes which evolve throughout the day, encouraging visitors to the Superbloom to pause, regain their senses and reflect as they wonder through nature in the centre of the UK’s biggest city.

The music is also set to be released as an eight-track mini album with an option for wildflower seed packets which are a mix of UK-native flowers which help support pollinators.