Beggar's Hymn (Nothing In My Hands I Bring)

II. Danza Lenta

LAMENT is for piano quintet and empty chair, dedicated to my dear friend, Laura Flax. Laura, the first female clarinetist of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and member of the Da Capo Chamber Players, was a fierce inspiration. I planned to meet up with her in NYC on a recent trip, but when I found out that she had passed, I was too numb to speak.

Like metal to a magnet, I was drawn into my studio and stared at my music notation software, unable to move. One lone, long note pushed through waves of grief. It came again, and again. I finally wrote it down but struggled. My familiar harmonic colors felt so shallow in light of my intense grief. I needed something deep. Suddenly I remembered the last time I heard Laura play. It was a Messiaen piece, which he wrote in a concentration camp. It then knew its octatonic mode brought the depth of color to my sound palette that I needed. 

Lament travels through undulations of numbness, anger, denial, and ends with a final surrender to acceptance. Though the empty chair represents my own friend's absence, performers are free to use the empty chair to represent any loss of their own. 

Laura, job well done.

Score available for perusal. Parts available at:
https://judithmarkovich.com

Lament

LAMENT for Piano Quintet and Empty Chair

I.T. professional by day, freelance composer/songwriter by night!

Beggar's Hymn (Nothing In My Hands I Bring)

gtulenko

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