It contains reflections of historic events, portraits of famous activist friends now dead, and unusual effects like the use of police whistles to recall street demonstrations by ACT UP, the direct action protest group of which Lyle Chan was a core member.
Like the autobiographical quartets of Steve Reich or Shostakovich, Lyle Chan's AIDS memoir is in turn harrowing and touching but ultimately an intensely uplifting story of a community that fought against all odds for their lives and won.
In performance, Lyle Chan speaks onstage between sections of the music – a narrative entirely from memory, telling vivid stories about the events and people of this era.
[8] Organised by the presenter Music By The Sea, the world premiere performance of the entire work took place on 5 July 2014 at the Sandgate Town Hall in Brisbane, Australia.
[10] It was subsequently confirmed that the true number of conference delegates on the flight was 6, but it included the scientist Dr Joep Lange, known for his pioneering research on combination therapy to treat HIV infection.
This section relates to the underground drug trials that Chan helped organise and in particular tells the story of how the experimental lipid amphotericin was obtained to treat McDiarmid's lymphoma.
"[16] Renowned American composer John Corigliano said, "Lyle Chan's string quartet is a very ambitious work born out of a seemingly endless plague.
[2] In December 2015, LA Weekly contacted Lyle Chan to obtain permission to quote the AIDS Memoir Quartet's program notes about Jim Corti (the real identity of 'Dextran Man' referred to in the music), stating "Chan's post is a fascinating chronicle of what people were willing to do to be of service to a cause, including manufacturing caplets of ddC ("the most illegal thing Jim had ever done") when the FDA refused to approve it and the pharmaceutical companies refused to expand clinical trials.