Father Arthur Bridge is the founder of the funding organization, Ars Musica Australis.  Following the commissioning of this work by the organization, his mother, Elaine, died.  I decided to dedicate the work to her memory.  In this way, I also pay tribute to Arthur for his immense contribution to Australian music.

In one movement, the Elegy begins with an extended melody,  played by the soloist.  It was conceived at the time of the tsunami, on Boxing Day, 2004.  Marked intenso and harmonized by a ground bass, this melody provides much of the material for the whole work.  Upon its second appearance, it is accompanied by the soloist playing arpeggiations across the strings, these being fragmented and more defined upon its third appearance. The opening section is followed by the Kyrie from the Plainsong Mass of the Dead.  This is a chant that I came to know during my schooldays and  I have referred to it in several works.  Played first by cellos and then by violas, the soloist adds a counter-melody above it, recalling intervals used in the opening part.  The music culminates in a more declamatory section, molto risoluto, leading to a climax and to a final statement of the chant.

 

Following the Kyrie, the declamatory music appears in a new guise.  Played unaccompanied by the soloist, it is then stated more strongly by the orchestra, leading to the climax of the work.  The opening music then returns, here marked calmo.  This is followed by an extended coda and a return of the arpeggiations.

It might be mentioned that the work begins and closes in a ‘C’ tonality.  While I am not religious in a sectarian sense, throughout my oeuvre this is always the tonality of God.  In the case of my indigenous-inspired works, it symbolizes Bunjil, the Great Spirit.  The Elegy, in seeking the sacred in nature, embraces the two.

 

P.S.