Floraison is a terrific 1975 composition by John McCabe from The Goddess Triloigy for Horn in F and Piano accompaniment. Floraison translates as 'flowering' or 'blossoming' and this piece depicts the flower maiden and love goddess Blodeuwedd ('bloom maiden') who is also an owl goddess. She was made up of nine kinds of flowers and in one pagan ritual her husband was sacrificed ascending after death into the skies in the form of an eagle. This composition is cast in the form of a passacaglia in which there are nine variations but perhaps more important than this is the initial image behind the piece which was that of a flower graduallyopening and then closing. This image governs the shape of the music with its increasingly elaborate and intense growth towards its climax and then a return at the close to the opening ideas.

Belgian composer Marcel Poot (1901-1988) was a professional composer professor and musician. He studied at the Belgian Conservatory and went on to attain success as an Organist and composer. His substantial compositions for wind and brass are still performed to this day  Légende for Horn in F and Piano being no exception. In 1925 Poot and several of his contemporaries founded 'The Synthetists' a group to rival 'Les Six' in France. They wished to inject dynamism into the conservative Belgian music scene through the composition of modern pieces. Légende for Horn andPiano reflects this whilst maintaining recognisable musical elements. Poot's Légende published in 1958 is in Ternary Form ending with a fat allegro coda. For intermediate to advanced Horn players Poot's Légende is an exciting addition to the repertoire.