PROGRAM NOTE
I began writing this short work for string sextet at the request of Claude Chemtob, Linda Shapiro’s husband, as a surprise gift for Linda’s for her sixtieth birthday. At that point Linda was battling heroically the lung cancer which she had thought she had conquered several years earlier. A birthday party was planned—it was Claude’s hope and desire to make each future birthday a very special celebration. He thought that a piece of music created for that occasion, specifically for Concertante—her favorite ensemble into which she had poured so much of herself since its inception—would be something she would value. It was not to be. Linda did not survive long enough to have that special birthday party planned for April 2011, some two weeks following her actual birthday. In February, though, Claude reported that, during what turned out to be one of her last trips to Urgent Care, he did tell her of the work that was being composed, and in his words, “you should have been in the car with us. I have very rarely seen her so touched.”
I had sorely hoped Linda would hear the work. Indeed, I sensed all along, as I was composing it, that this work would also be a farewell. But thinking, hoping, that she might still hear it, I wanted through my music to tell her that I knew—we all knew—how hard she was trying, fighting this dreaded disease with every bit of strength and courage she had! And that, no matter what physical state her body was in, her spirit was soaring.
She was, I knew, holding on for dear life. What is left are the memories, and Linda’s Music.
—Shulamit Ran
INFORMATION
Commissioned by Claude Chemtob for the occasion of Linda Shapiro Chemtob’s 60th birthday
First performances:
May 4, 2012, Harrisburg, PA
May 6, 2012, Baltimore, MD
May 7, 2012, Merkin Hall, NYC
May 16, 2012, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
Duration: c. 7′