Program Notes

The elegy is typically a lament for the dead. Like so many composers, I am often moved to write when someone with whom I am close dies. When Ray died, age 25, the shock sent ripples through diverse communities. Due to the pandemic, the Miller family (which includes two professional pianists) had to wait eight months until a formal remembrance could be organized. This was serendipitous, since it allowed over 300 people from Maine to Oregon, from New York to Texas, to travel and celebrate Ray’s life.

The piece’s form is narrative, reflecting a static ache, lament, fracture, and how those concepts interact with the Miller family’s new reality. It is a traditional elegy, lamenting and mournful.