TITLE: Elegy COMPOSER: Dave Brubeck ORCHESTRATION: 5 Cellos (with optional improvisation section) LENGTH: ca. 4'30"

Elegy
Elegy was composed as a dedication to the late Norwegian artist, journalist and critic, Randi Hultin, and was originally titled Blues for Randi. She was an unusual woman, who welcomed into her home travelling musicians, and counted among her friends everyone from ragtime piano player Eubie Blake, bebop pianist Bud Powell, to those in the more modern school. When I telephoned her to let her know that we soon would be coming to Oslo and would play her piece for her, she declared "I'll be there, if they have to carry me". Sadly, she died of cancer before we arrived, so she never heard it, although she had seen the notes on paper. In memory of Randi, the Dave Brubeck Quartet performed Elegy for the first time in Oslo before an audience of jazz enthusiasts who knew and loved her, and her two daughters, who had flown in from Morocco and England. The occasion was documented by Norwegian television. The piece has since become part of the Quartet's repertoire. Again, Derek Snyder, in arranging for cello ensemble, has added some new material to my original composition with additional places for optional improvisation.

- DAVE BRUBECK

Elegy was recorded on Brubeck's 2003 Telarc release Dave Brubeck Quartet Park Avenue South. This edition contains a transcription of Michael Moore's beautiful bass solo.