Kathryn Blake

Threnody for the Prematurely Departed was composed in honor of the late Braydon J. Chambers, somebody who held a special place in my family’s heart. We wish that he has found peace and no longer must suffer. This work is comprised of five movements that use the same set of pitches as palette to express each movement’s character. While composing the piece, I reflected on my initial process of grieving and the emotions I went through, and how they came in waves. It is well known that the “five stages of grief” (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) is a myth and is not the typical experience that people face when grieving, I used this widespread cultural knowledge of this model to act as my framework for my composition on grief. Each movement is a character piece of my interpretation of the emotions in this five-stage model. The pitch set I used throughout the piece was devised by assigning pitches to numbers, and creating my pitch set from a phone number. The phone number used is (800) 273-8255, the National Suicide Prevention Line, better known as the Suicide Hotline. People struggling with mental illness and/or their mental health deserve as much help as those with physical illnesses; those who struggle deserve love and support from those around them. We can help brighten their lives and make them feel loved and wanted. Please take a moment to reach out to the ones you love and express how much they mean to you, see how they are doing, and find something you can do to help them. Even the smallest action can make a big difference. “If you or anyone that you know is going through a mental health battle, I encourage you to try and receive help. You deserve to live a quality life, and to live it happily. You are not a burden to those around you, and you are worthy of so much love and kindness. Rest in peace love.” – MB If you would like to donate to the Brayden James Chambers Memorial Fund to help spread awareness and increase support for those struggling with depression, please follow this URL: tinyurl.com/BraydonChambersFund