The name is absent

81

Red Hills and Sky is the simplest painting of the six in this collection, and the music
resonates strongly with this image. Throughout the movement, the piano has a gentle
OStinato rhythm not unlike a barcarole, which gives the feeling of a lullaby, as shown in
Example 2.7.

Example 2.7: Black Birds, Red Hills, Third mvt., mm. 1-5 (piano only)

Debussy’s influence has been suggested, due to the piano’s “contrast of color
between the extreme registers of the piano and the sustained quality created by the piano
pedal.”⁶⁰ In a study of the text setting techniques used in Libby Larsen’s vocal works,
Bezerra writes, “ostinatos in Larsen’s music are often used for text painting, depicting the
action or object of the text.”⁶¹ In examination of O’Keeffe’s text, this ostinato could be
emphasizing the word “simple” or “quietly.” Additionally, Larsen has pointed out the
significance of O’Keeffe contemplating the hills through her kitchen window, a frame
through which women have traditionally viewed the world.⁶² The barcarole ostinato
rhythm creates a feeling of gentle rocking that might accompany a lullaby a mother
would sing to her child in her arms, relating to the “arms” of the hills as they hold up the
sky.

60

Shoemaker, 31.

61

Bezerra, 28.

⁶² Larsen, interview, 8/2008.

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