Christensen’s Elegy for horns is in two parts: a very slow, homophonic introduction is followed by a slow, equally homophonic waltz. The rhythms in all five parts are really almost identical, with just a few differences. The division of parts is curious, with the 4th horn as the highest, followed by 1, 2, 3 and 5.
The structure of the piece is an eight bar repeated first part in common time, followed by a four bar introduction to the waltz, a repeated eight bar waltz, and then a D.C. without specification of whether the beginning is repeated.
The structure is simple, the time signatures, range, and rhythms are simple, which makes this a great piece for a beginning ensemble.