The lines of Ich liebe dich, which Mascha Kaléko wrote for her husband Chemjo Vinaver while living in exile in New York, bear witness to a deep emotional bond between the husband-and-wife artists. The simple text, written in blue ink, finds Kaléko’s musical declaration of love repeated four times with minimal variations.

Amid the difficult economic and mental conditions of emigration, the couple, married since 1938, grew closer despite their everyday problems. During this time, Mascha Kaléko largely sacrificed her literary ambitions to support her husband, who had a much poorer command of English, in his work as choirmaster. She was also responsible for the necessary negotiations with bureaucracy, as well as caring for child and home. In New York, Chemjo Vinaver re-established the Vinaver Choir which had come about in his Berlin years, and was now comprised of 30 German-speaking emigrants along with a few local singers. In October 1939 they performed their first full-length concert in New York’s Town Hall theatre. The repertoire was largely made up of Jewish music – sacred music from the synagogue and Yiddish folk songs.