Elegy for Broken Hearts

An elegy is a lament, a sorrowful song. The evolving melody (not really a melody in the traditional understanding of the word) is contrasted by repeated rhythms in the piano part. The piano plays a repeated row of chords. Each repetition is made shorter by removing the first and last chord. In the end it is nothing left - the music ends.

The music was originally composed as part of my Concerto for Trumpet and String Orchestra (1996). The concerto has been revised, but I kept the music from the first movement and gave it a title that corresponds with the character of the music.