Chen Yi’s ELEGY was composed in 2020 both as her own response to the covid pandemic, and in conjunction with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s series of solo commissions for their performers offered through the SPCO’s website. Musically inspired by a common bond with oboist Cassie Pilgrim’s cultural heritage from southern China, Chen Yi drew from Cantonese folk music materials, whose Yifan mode is particularly sad and mournful.