Nimrod Fragments

Instrumentation: 2(II=picc.).2.2.2 - 4.2.3.1 - timp.perc(3):mar/glsp/crot/cyms/sus.cym/tam-t/BD - strings. Rearrangement available by request.

Nimrod Fragments is an eight-minute orchestral work written for the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra. Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations — and especially the Nimrod variation, a favourite of my grandfather's — has been part of my listening for years. Layering material for this piece, I found that fragments of Elgar's variation had slipped into the orchestration, apparently of their own accord.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic my grandfather was recovering from a major surgery to remove one cancer and had just begun treatment for another. Despite his age, he carried on as he always had — working on his strange projects, music playing through the house. I have inherited some of this stubbornness, for better or worse, and thanks to it he is still with us. The piece is one of many tributes I’ve written for him.