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The last section of the piece (mm. 78-86) ties together all of the main ideas from
the movement including the klangfarbenmelodie (this time on the pitch G), the wafting
flourishes, the alternating thirds or iBlack Rock, motive, and the quarter note dotted
figure. Aside from the В-flat, all of the notes used in the last iteration of the iBlackRock'
motive (A, D, G, C and В-flat) are resonant tones to the viola.
On the whole, Larsen’s second movement is filled with subtle texture and timbrai
changes which capture a sense of “drifting.” In it Larsen is not telling any sort of story, or
even incorporating any characteristically “American” musical sounds or rhythms as she
does in the outer movements. Instead, she has created a sparse, yet complex movement
that utilizes many techniques often found in the music Oflmpressionistic composers.
Parallel chords used in a “planar” fashion (see Example 3.24), melodies and harmonies
displaced by several octaves, static harmony, the use of a variety of string techniques, and
both extreme and subtle dynamic changes—all combined with an overall dynamically
muted effect—are gestures one might normally associate with composers such as
Debussy and Ravel.