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Niels Eikelboom performing “Elegy for an Elephant“ by Annette Kruisbrink on a 2021 Michael Batell guitar Note from the composer: Elegy for an Elephant is composed in 2021 and is dedicated to Niels Eikelboom. The elegy is based on the introduction of an earlier composition (Harmony for voice and guitar) and is expanded with fragments of an Indian raga. Why an elegy? Due to heavy ivory poaching, the amount of tuskless female elephants has increased enormously. It has sparked an evolutionary response that favored tuskless elephants as population numbers recovered. While no longer having ivory tusks can save elephants from poaching, the genetic mutation responsible for eliminating tusks is deadly to male elephants. Guitar: 2021 Michael Batell, after a Manuel Ramirez 1912 Recording and editing by Michael Batell, Berlin 2022 Michael Batell Guitars
