Elegy

This piece was written in the summer of 2009 for Lionel Handy. It reflects my feelings on visiting the grave in the tiny French village of Agny of the poet Edward Thomas, who was killed at the battle of Arras in 1917.  For me, his death has always been emblematic of the loss of human potential caused by conflicts like World War I. The work takes the form of an extended line which undergoes various dramatic transformations until it arrives at a resigned conclusion.

This piece was first performed by Lionel Handy at the Warehouse, London on October 8, 2009.

Philip Grange