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A composer's response to something this poignant is often to set the experience to music, and that night I began a bittersweet work for cello and piano. Combining sadness with optimism is basic to this music, as it was basic to immigrants giving up everything in hope of a better future. The piece was originally titled Hebrew Elegy, a lyrical poetic plaint without much cellistic flash.

A few months after finishing Hebrew Elegy, I gave a copy (with no program notes) to a cellist-friend, suggesting he might want the premiere. Unbeknownst to me this cellist had AIDS; he assumed I knew and had composed a "Hebrew Eulogy" for him which he immediately worked into the funeral he'd been planning. He was particularly moved that I understood the bittersweet combination of sadness and optimism in his struggle.

The unexpected and ironic parallel led me to think of a more universal title, and Peaceful Journey became the final name of the work.