Imitations was written for the project 'Between Heaven and the Clouds: Messiaen 2015' at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. The starting point for this project was Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus. Alongside this, we also looked at the poems of Michael Symmons Roberts and the artwork by Sophie Hacker, both of which develop different ideas from the Messiaen.