"To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music,” wrote American essayist Henry Tuckerman. “It is one of those things that is far better to enjoy, than to try to fully understand."

Well, perhaps … but it really doesn’t take much effort to understand why composers have found inspiration in flowers. What's really intriguing, however, is how that has led to such a wide variety of music.

As a case in point, in this hour, examples by Monteverdi, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Puccini, and Prokofiev.

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