Originally written for two violins, the Hebraique Elegie is now available in an arrangement for Cello Alone! Amy Barlowe’s arrangements of this soulful piece are receiving worldwide acclaim. The two viola arrangement was premiered by Paul Neubauer and Matthew Lipman at a Lincoln Center Spring Gala, and Paul Huang and Danbi Um have performed the two violin version at numerous festivals and chamber music concerts throughout the country, including Caramoor, Wolf Trap, Crested Butte, North Shore, Parlance, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, and Chamber Music San Francisco.

The Hebraique Elegie offers an engaging freedom that encourages limitless imaginative interpretations. Having the innate capacity for colorfully creating soulful sonorities filled with longing and passion, the cello is a perfect instrument to reveal the strong emotional connection this piece can bring to its performers and audiences. With its contrast between mournful outcries and veiled, but lighter moments, the Hebraique Elegie for Cello Alone can become its most meaningful voice.

Background

“My earliest memories of family gatherings were Bar Mitzvah receptions held in the lavish, dimly lit restaurants of Brooklyn, NY. Beyond remembrances of the excitement of meeting relatives I’d never known, the glitz of be-sequined cousins, and the pervasively enthralling music, are the sweet recollections of dancing with my father, first, as a very little girl with my feet atop his polished black shoes; then on my own.

There is something about the history of the Jewish people, their struggle for survival combined with an innate ability to buoy themselves up from the depths of tragedy with a sense of humor, that has always fascinated me. The Hebraique Elegie was born of the desire to find a home for the emotions I experienced at the passing of my father. The hypnotic dance at its core is a reminiscence of those cherished moments I spent with him. From the lonely, chant-like cadenza at its opening, to the reflection and reluctant acceptance at its close, the Hebraique Elegie is a lament expressing the irony and juxtaposition of joy and suffering; the struggle with the inevitable.”
-Amy Barlowe