… this is what we fear …

nothing to think with,

Nothing to love or link with …

— From the poem “Aubade,” by Philip Larkin, excerpted in the fifth movement of “Shadow & Light, an Alzheimer’s Journey.”

When Eugene Concert Choir director Diane Retalick approached Portland composer Joan Szymko to write a piece about Alzheimer’s dementia, Szymko faced three challenges.

First, she had no friends or close relatives with the disease. Second, though she’d written more than 100 choral works, the half-hour work for choir and orchestra would be bigger than any she’d attempted.

Finally, she worried that it would be depressing — “a horror story.”

But after spending two years researching the heartbreaking subject, Szymko discovered a way to cope with what was for her a work of unprecedented scale. And she learned that it’s possible to find hope and peace at the end of an Alzheimer’s journey.

“ ‘Shadow and Light’ is a touching and hopeful look at the effects of Alzheimer’s,” said Christine Meadows, who sings a central solo part in Oregon Repertory Singers’ Portland premiere of Szymko’s 2016 work and whose father died of the disease. Szymko “captures the huge range of emotions and experiences that many of us have journeyed through with our loved ones.”

Szymko overcame her first challenge by learning about Alzheimer’s, which is the sixth leading killer of Americans, by reading extensively and by talking to people with Alzheimer’s, their families and caregivers, and medical specialists.

“My main concern was to tell a universal story, so anyone in the audience affected by it could recognize themselves,” she explained. Along with quotes from patients and their loved ones, she included text that transcended the disease’s specifics, including hymns and poetry.

Creating what ultimately became a 70-minute oratorio out of several smaller pieces – none of the 16 movements runs longer than eight minutes – solved her second challenge of composing a piece of unprecedentedly epic scale for her.

To acknowledge that Alzheimer’s experiences aren’t exclusively bleak, Szymko worked in “moments of respite, and a big exhale where we’re able to laugh at some aspects of the reality” of the disease, she said.

Szymko’s universal approach makes “Shadows and Light” easy to appreciate even if you’ve never heard a piece of classical music in your life, said Ethan Sperry, music director for the Oregon Repertory Singers.

Szymko hopes that “Shadow and Light” might help people cope with trying times.

“My mission as an artist and composer is to make people feel something,” she said. “ … This is a disease that’s right in front of us. Let’s look at it, at our own fears about dementia and death and let’s be present with them.”

She believes her composition’s emphasis on connection makes it “ultimately a healing work. … I want anyone in the midst of a tragic story to see that the thing that makes us human is our ability and need to connect, that that which abides is love. ”

“Shadow and Light, an Alzheimer’s Journey”

When: 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 28-29.

Where: First United Methodist Church, 1838 S.W. Jefferson St.

Tickets: $20-$40, orsingers.org, brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006. The Friday, Sept 27. dress rehearsal is open to Alzheimer’s patients and their families and caregivers.