Premiered in 2018

Movements 2 and 3 Recorded in 2019 by the Dali Quartet

I wrote this piece for my Grandparents when in 2018. My grandfather had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and it was my way of coping with the inevitable loss. Writing this work afforded me a creative outlet to explore the wonderful memories we shared together and reevaluate how I lived my life.

This work is a programmatic string quartet with percussion. It explores 3 scenes at a person’s funeral. First is the funeral procession. I think of this as the character in question witnessing the procession of a lost loved one and depicts the intense emotions that result. The second movement is a flashback. The character remembers back to all their childhood memories and allows them to rethink the opinions they once held. The final movement is remembering the decline of that person into their death. Pain is apparent and though the tone overall is dark there are happy undertones. As the end arrives, the main motive becomes more disjunct and scattered as if the ensemble is forgetting.