Elliott Chorale
for solo 4.5 Octave Marimba
5 min.
This chorale was written at the request of a good friend of mine, percussionist Patrick Griffin. During his junior recital at SMU, he played Bach’s gorgeous “Komm, Süsser Tod” and we quickly bonded over our love for chorales, Bach, and those two things combined on marimba. Quickly, the idea for this piece was born. While the piece does give ode to Bach’s “Komm, Süsser Tod” (as it is in it’s original key of C Minor), the two quickly depart from one another, as I used this project to explore extended. harmony and how one can utilize it to exploit this feeling of suspension. Thanks to Bach and "Komm, Süsser Tod" (which means come sweet death), that feeling of suspension is meant to imitate one waiting for death (and the many feelings that come with it).