Alex Shapiro, composer: Elegy

Piano Trio No. 1: Elegy
Dedicated to my late father, Ivan Shapiro.
(Piano, Violin and Cello).
Total duration ca. 8 minutes (1999)
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).
One movement work. 8 pages, 8.5" x 11".

Premiered on April 2, 2000 in Bakersfield, CA.
by Donna Fraser, violin; Norma Sexton, cello;
and Charles Badami, piano.
Audio clip performed by Dawn Phelps Neal, violin, Marilyn Harris, cello, and Dorothy Spafard Hull, piano.
Also available as:
Elegy

(C trumpet, Cello and Piano).
Total duration ca. 8 minutes (2004)
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).
One movement work. 20 pages, 8.5" x 11".

Premiered on September 17, 2004 in Spearfish, SD by The Orenunn Trio:
Mark Boren, Julianne Boren, and Ellen Bottorf. Audio clip performed by The Orenunn Trio.

Recorded by Ismael Betancor, trumpet; Carlos Rivero, cello and José Luis Castillo, piano.

Audio clip performed by Ismael Betancor, trumpet; Carlos Rivero, cello and José Luis Castillo, piano.

Elegy is featured on the Trio Chromos 2007 CD, Trumpet Colors, on Crystal Records 766. Click CD for more info.

View pages of the score

Listen to an audio clip
of Piano Trio No. 1
for violin, cello and piano

See a list of performers

Listen to audio clips
of Elegy
for trumpet, cello and piano

1.

2.

See a list of performers

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Purchase this score

Score and parts available from
Activist Music for $30.00.

This Elegy was written shortly after the death of my father at the early age of 69, in the wake of his nine year bout with Alzheimer's disease. It is plaintive and lyrical, and although it uses a modern tonal sensibility, there is a romantic, late nineteenth century presence that informs much of the piece. In my mind, this Trio has moments that faintly echo the Brahms trios which my father adored throughout his life. The opening theme in the violin descends in a variety of ways, and the flow of the music attempts to cry out and fight against such decline. The middle of the piece brings a moving cello melody which swells upward and ultimately plays against the violin motive in an emotional plea. The piece ends with stillness, the quiet, lone voices of the instruments, and the acceptance of loss.D

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Elegy, page 1 D

Elegy page 1

Elegy, page 4