109
for him. In fact, the sonata came into my head almost full-blown right
after I met him.45
When asked about her earlier statement that there was no place for the viola in
American culture, Larsenjustifies her use of the viola by pointing out the similarity in
range between the viola and electric guitar, a genuinely “American” instrument. She
believes that Americans’ tolerance for hearing the high pitches that the violin produces is
slowly diminishing, and that there is an overall preference in our society for melodies in a
lower range, as well as an increased role for bass enhancement or bass boost in popular
• 46
music.
Larsen also makes the case that the viola was overlooked during her student years:
I believe what I said at the time, that I couldn’t find a place for the viola
[in American culture], Γm still looking for the cello. I couldn’t find a
place for the viola in American culture—except in the joke books! I mean
compositionally. It’s ignored, pretty much, in training composers; when
we take orchestration, we’re very much focused on the individual—the
Michael Phelps approach to life. That will be the violin; cello kind of, but
really violin. And then bass, of course, defines jazz and defines rock ’n’
roll; it’s everywhere. But viola—it’s not focused on. Mostly we’re taught
that it’s got mid to low range, it’s infinitely balancing the chords, and it—
[laughs] if you can’t play the violin, you play the viola. It’s terrible, the
stereotypes! Γm a little person, so Γm used to hearing stereotypical things
in a culture that values gigundo.47
Larsen’s new appreciation and understanding of the viola was catalyzed to a large
degree by James Dunham, without whom the Viola Sonata would most likely not exist.
Larsen composes solely on commission, to allow her to write for a specific performer and
performance, so she kept the idea of a viola sonata for Dunham in her head for nine years
until she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts
Larsen, Viola Sonata, preface.
46
Erdmann, 6.
47
Larsen, interview, 8/2008.