Hymn of Grieving and Acceptance by Chris...

By Chris Lowry

On May 6, 2017, my apartment in Baton Rouge, LA, burned down, destroying many personal items and irreplaceable memories, and killing my cat Clara. Needless to say, the next several months were filled with sadness, anger, confusion, and helplessness. Though I am still working through all of this, I decided to deal with the pain through music. Hymn of Grieving and Acceptance is the first piece I have written since then that directly deals with these emotions. As the title suggests, this piece represents the gradual transition from grief to peace; though I’m still in the process of figuring out exactly how that feels and what it means, this piece is my own personal, musical expression of this process as of now.

Hymn concerns itself more with the journey to peace than with the actual despair; the mood of the piece is largely reverent and hopeful. The basis of the piece is a slow chorale that starts somberly and progressively grows more resolved throughout the piece. The second theme is a hymn-like tune that owes much to Gustav Holst. These two ideas develop together motivically as the piece grows in emotion and intensity. The latter third of the piece is a faster, more assured variation on the themes, which leads to a final climatic statement of the chorale statement of the chorale.

Performed at the New York “Sounds of Spring” International Music Festival 2018 by Dublin High School Wind Ensemble, directed by Melissa Williams

Duration: 5 minutes
Grade Level: 4