Carson Cooman — Planctus III (in memoriam William Duckworth) (2012) for hammerchord

Planctus III (2012) was written in memory of the American composer William Duckworth. It is a "fierce lament" in the spirit of an old Irish "caoine." (The work is for a musical instrument invented in 2002 by Robert Cunningham of Atlanta, Georgia. The hammerchord is a keyboard-based stringed instrument employing a unique hammered striking mechanism to produce a tremolo sound reminiscent of the hammered dulcimer or the balalaika.)