"Elegy in Memory of Harold A. Cheilek" genre: Chamber Music
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	Elegy for string quartet dedicated to the memory of Harold A. Cheilek, husband of the composer's viola teacher.
	Story Behind the Song On 5 December 2001, Mr. Harold A. Cheilek died of liver cancer. He was an accomplished physicist but also an avid chamber music lover. On weekends, he and his wife (my viola teacher) would get together with their quartet and sightread. I wrote this piece for Mrs. Cheilek and her quartet, to remember the wonderful person that was her husband. The motif "B-A-C" appears often in the piece. This is because in the German notation system, B is H, so B-A-C becomes H-A-C, Mr. Cheilek's initials. The prominence of the viola and second violin parts represent the fact that Mr. Cheilek was the second violinist and Mrs. Cheilek the violist of their quartet. The middle section is supposed to represent happy reminiscing; this section contains a quote from Mozart's final string quartet, which was Mr. Cheilek's favorite piece. The end reverts to the slow tempo, with the second violin not playing to represent the empty chair in the group left by Mr. Cheilek.

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