Elegy for my father Dedicated to the memory of Ivor Stuart Holland (1930-1991)
After years of writing for others, this piece seemed right to happen when it did and it is the first that I have composed based on an aspect of my own life experience. It is by no means a representation of my father, but more an atmospheric tribute to his indelible effect on me as a child and now, through reflection, as an adult.
While there is a certain amount of expression and melancholy within, the relentless metre helps to move things along until the final, limping, moments. The overall mood of the piece is one of motion and fortitude – the two traits that my father embodied most exceptionally in life.
