Elegy for Violin and Piano (2008)

Composed in memory of John Daverio; premiered Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 6:30 P.M. at The St. Botolph Club, Boston; performed by Jodi Hagen, violin and Scott Nicholas, piano.

Elegy for Violin and Piano is based on an earlier work, Sonata for Violin and Four Voices composed by Graham Gordon Ramsay in 1985. The original sonata was premiered by John Daverio, a much loved and respected music history professor and violinist at Boston University. After Daverio's tragic death in 2003, Ramsay decided to compose an elegy that would incorporate elements of the original piece, while also drawing on influences of the German romantic composers who were the focus of Daverio's scholarship. The elegy is sectional in nature with emotionally driven virtuosic episodes building throughout, demanding from the violinist both a high degree of technical facility and an intensity of energy and focus.