R. Christopher Teichler, Composer: Music
Elegy
(String Orchestra, 1999)
Published by Pelican Music Publishing
The subtitle of this piece is "For a Childhood Hero." I composed this in the few days immediately following the death of one of my childhood idols. His death seemed sudden, shocking, and impossible. Even though this was someone I had never met, it felt like someone close to me died. I also felt compelled to write some sort of musical response to this for two reasons: I had never written a piece as a memorial, and I felt it was the best way to express my grief.
This is the most romantic piece I've ever written. I took complete advantage of teh lush nature of string in every facet of this piece. The melodies feature a lot of large leaps and some poignant dissonce; the harmonies are very open and very lush, but can still be very tight and grating. The piece sounds directionless at the beginning, and then goes through various levels of intensities. Ultimately, the piece ends with an optimistic tone, symbolizing the joy of remembering a great person's life.