When Steven Mackey began composing his most recent commission for violinist Leila Josefowicz, he intended to write a barn burner for her. A couple of months into the project, he took a new direction: a requiem dedicated to his mother. “I was in contact with him throughout the process, and when he explained that it would be about his mother gaining control of her destiny, I told him I would be happier with it than with a barn burner,” Josefowicz said. “From my early years, I’ve wanted to be the messenger of the composer. The last thing I want to do is get in the way of his creative process. The title is taken from his mother’s last words, ‘Please tell everyone I had a beautiful passing.’

“This is an amazing piece of music. Steve went through an intense period of writing about letting go and struggling through the last day of her life. There are two different characters: the orchestra that is about life and the violin that is calm and neutral. It’s written in two sections divided by a cadenza. After the cadenza, it characterizes her breathing. Then there is a moment of struggle as the orchestra and violin come together, evaporate and go into nothing. ”