The name is absent

130

at the same time, bold.”⁷⁰ This dichotomy is evident in the separate roles of the viola and
piano. Beginning with the low open string C3, the viola line sustains this same pitch in
two different octaves for a total duration of about sixty seconds. Larsen turns the
sustained dotted whole notes into a “subtle gesture” by gradually varying the dynamics,
never notating a dynamic above mf and changing to the octave C4 and its harmonic in m.
24 and m. 25. Accompanying these subtle gestures are “bolder” piano flourishes in the
upper registers, reminiscent of the viola figure in m. 7. The resulting color is both eerie
and mysterious.

Example 3.21: Viola Sonata, Second mvt., mm. 23-29

This idea is repeated on a smaller scale both in m. 50 with sustained В-flats and in
the final measures of the piece with the pitch G. In m. 50 the pitch В-flat is suspended
over three measures in varying octaves that alternate between trilled notes and non-
vibrato. In all three instances, Larsen is experimenting, by using a single instrument, with

Larsen, Viola Sonata, preface.

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