TJ Cole was born in 1993. The first performance of Death of the Poet took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 31, 2014, by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Death of the Poet is scored for the strings of the orchestra. Approximate performance time is eleven minutes.

TJ Cole is an American composer and synthesizer performer. Cole studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy. Cole’s mentors include John Boyle Jr., Jennifer Higdon, David Ludwig, and Richard Danielpour. TJ Cole’s music has been commissioned by, among others, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. During the 2022-3 season, Cole participated in a residency with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, part of the first year of that ensemble’s “Creator Corps” initiative.

TJ Cole’s Death of the Poet was inspired by Conrad Felixmüller’s painting, Death of the Poet Walter Rheiner. Cole encountered the painting during a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. Rheiner, an expressionist poet, died from a drug overdose in a rundown Berlin hotel room in June of 1925. Felixmüller’s depiction of his friend suspends Rheiner above the Berlin skyline. Immaculately dressed, Rheiner deftly holds a syringe in his left hand, while grasping onto the hotel curtains with his right. Rheiner’s enigmatic expression may be one of sorrow, pain, or bliss.

The composer relates: “the colors were what struck me the most. The artist used vibrant and deep blues, purples, reds and greens to portray this night scene. I’ve always connected strongly to colors, so my reaction to the painting was an emotional one.” Cole wrote Death of the Poet, scored for string orchestra, “in the style of an Elegy.”

Program notes by Ken Meltzer