This piece was originally written for an undergraduate assessment. The inspiration for this piece was ‘The Garden of Love’ by William Blake. I felt moved to write a symphonic poem based off the story told in the poem. In the beginning, I try to set a ‘lush’ scene representing the garden. In the distance, the repeated minims in the brass parts are meant to represent a distant church bell (foreshadowing). Another motif in the piece, for example in the double horn part at bar 6, is the ‘Pie Jesu’ section of the original Dies Irae Gregorian chant. This was inspired by the priests in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who chanted Pie Jesu and then hit themselves in the face. The ending of the poem when there are priests walking about in the garden reminded me of this, and the Pie Jesu also acts as mourning for what once was the beautiful garden. Throughout the piece, I try to reflect the grief felt by the narrator as they realize the formerly beautiful garden had been corrupted by the church. I tried to make the piece relatively cohesive sounding throughout by use of chromaticism so that the sections had that in common with each other. I began the piece with a more major, joyful section to reminisce about the garden of love, then making the music sound more confused and concerned as the narrator discovers what has become of it. After the climax of the piece, I end it quite somberly and with not entirely satisfying/settled chords to reflect the disappointment of knowing the garden will never be the same again.