Essay for Strings [CF:116-40110S]

The "Essay for Strings" was written in 1986 in memory of Glenn Hull, a colleague and the choir director at Norfolk State University during my early years there. His sudden passing was a shock, and I expressed my sadness in this work. It was premiered that year by the NSU orchestra at their Winter concert. In w000, after conductor-composer Coleridge Taylor Perkinson gave the work its second performance in Chicago (with the ensemble of the Center For Black Music Reasearch), I decided to add it to my catalog of orchestra works. The designation ?Essay? refers to the fact that the piece is based on one idea (like a literary essay). In this case the musical idea (or motive) is made from the initials of my deceased friend, Glenn Hull (G and H in music are represented by the pitches G and B-natural). These two notes are sounded throughout the work in tribute to him.