Autumn Elegy

Autumn Elegy, op. 273
Scott Lang, Chandler, Arizona
2025 – grade 3 – 5:00

COMING SOON!

I have been proud to call Scott Lang my friend for many years, but it was only recently that he told me about his twin brother
whose battle with pediatric cancer ended his life when they were four years old. Rather than try to convey Scott's thoughts
when he asked me to write this piece, I would like to share his feelings in his own words to better understand the meaning
and inspiration behind this piece.

Todd Mac Lang was my best friend, my mirror self, my twin, and is a presence that follows me through every season of my life.

Autumn Elegy, commissioned in memory of my identical twin brother, is a tribute to the four short years we shared and also
to the bond that has never ended; it has simply changed shape. This piece is not just "for" Todd, but "to" him; it is my way of
saying that I still think about you and love you. A half-century after his passing, my memories of him are as lucid as if they
were yesterday.

As I've grown, so has the outline of his absence: first, the missing playmate; then the friend who never got my late-night
phone calls; the uncle my two boys will never meet; and the father he might have become but never had the chance to be.
Through it all, he has remained what he was from the very beginning - my brother.

Every fall, as the air sharpens and the world turns gold, I'm brought back to his October passing. The grief doesn't diminish
with time; it simply stretches out, appearing at longer intervals, yet striking with the familiar clarity of sadness when it arrives.
In that annual chill, there's a quiet warmth - and the comfort of memory.

Autumn Elegy is intended to invite a musical reflection and remembrance of the people who have impacted you throughout
your life. This piece is not only a remembrance of Todd's brief life, but a tribute to how a single life, however short, can be
a lifelong echo.