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(1990), she was more actively studying the issues of human action and consequence and
was willing to take a risk on an intangible subject. Her lengthy program note for that
work delves into weighty issues, among them a comparison of the late eighteenth century
conflict between the church and alchemy and the present day division between church
and medical research. Larsen recalled that during the time she was composing the opera
her mantra for herself was, “if Γm going down, Γm going down in flames!”5 This
statement relates to both her choice of the intangible or abstract subject, and the
consequent issues Frankenstein delves into. Although the opera is programmatic, the
choice of a monster or non-human subject and the intangible moral issues the work raises
was a departure from the “safe” subjects on which her operas (and other vocal works) are
typically based.6 In part, this decision enabled her to accept the vastness of infinity and
the unknown, and to embrace it musically. Today, Larsen’s official biography
prominently features the following quote by the composer:
Music exists in an infinity of sound. I think of all music as existing in the
substance of the air itself. It is the composer’s task to order and make
sense of sound, in time and space, to communicate something about being
alive through music.7
This philosophy is central to the way in which Larsen has been working for the
past decade, and her Viola Sonata is among many recent works that explore this notion of
an “infinity of sound.” The quote also addresses what Larsen is currently trying to
Larsen, interview 7/2009.
6 Larsen’s many operas include subjects such as Jenny Lind and P.T. Bamum,
adaptations of plays such as William Inge’s Picnic, and collaborations with children and
their writing in Dreaming Blue.
7
Libby Larsen “About” http://libbylarsen.com/index.php?contentID=216 (accessed 8
February 2010).