The composer wrote the following about this composition

"The work was inspired by two visits I made some years ago to the Dachau concentration-camp, near Munich, Germany. The first visit was with my wife and children, the second, with members of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, during our German concert-tour under my conducting. In a memorial ceremony we held at Dachau, the principal cellist of the orchestra played the ‘Sarabande’ for Solo Cello from the Suite in c-minor of J.S. Bach.
In the process of writing the Elegy, I have used different borrowed material, which assisted me in constructing a collage of passing images from past and present. Thus, one can hear a Jewish song from the Ghetto ("Under the Starry Sky") as well as Bach’s Sarabande for solo Cello. A theme from Gustav Mahler’s "Kindertotenlieder” serves as a Cantus Firmus in the fugal entrances that open the Elegy. Another theme from the "Kindertotenlieder" ‘is quoted towards the conclusion of the work, as a postlude of silence and acceptance.
The Elegy was written in 1997, partially in Israel, partially in San Diego and is dedicated to my grandparents – whom were killed during the 2nd World War.”
The Elegy was premiered in September 1997 by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, under the composer’s conducting.