Mourning Vignettes

for bassoon and string quartet | 2018

As I began composing what eventually became Mourning Vignettes, it didn’t take long to realize that this piece would be a means to reflect on and express grief—during the time I was writing the work, two of my colleagues experienced the loss of a parent and one of my colleagues tragically passed away after a brief illness. While it is impossible to express through music the varied and complex emotions that come out of grief, I did hope to create a work that offered a space to explore some of these emotions—at times deeply sad, at times angry, at times confused, at times frantic, at times numb, but ultimately hopeful. The work is in five short movements with a brief cadenza between the third and fourth. Mourning Vignettes was written for my friend and colleague, Benjamin Coelho, and is a lament in memory of Nilda Coelho, Ray Conklin, and Donna Parsons.

The live recording below is from the premiere performance.